Congratulations to NC State Nuclear Engineering senior design teams, undergraduate student researchers as well as graduate and faculty plenaries and panels. They participated in the 2023 American Nuclear Society (ANS) Student Conference in Knoxville, TN. The conference theme was “Passing the Torch”.
SC State University nuclear engineering students attend NC State in their senior year and are included on the list below. Conference winners are indicated by bolded titles.
SENIOR DESIGN PROJECTS
Fuel Management and Reload Cycle Length Optimization for a Westinghouse 2-Loop PWR
Zachary D. Bevans (NCSU), Jesse M. Hines (NCSU), Ethan Newhouse (NCSU), Ashanti Meyers (SCSU). Advisers: Maria Avramova (NCSU), Kostadin Ivanov (NCSU), Baxter Durham (Westinghouse)
Track Area: Fuel Cycles, Waste Management, and Decommissioning
Event Sequence Analysis to Support a Full Scope Dynamic Probabilistic Risk Assessment Framework for the PULSTAR Research Reactor
May Wells (NCSU), Maddie Barber (NCSU), Alex Chaisson (NCSU). Adviser: Mihai A. Diaconeasa (NCSU) & Entergy
Track Area: Power Reactor Operations, Safety, and Reliability
Fuel Management and Reload Cycle Optimization for a Westinghouse 4-Loop PWR
Wafaa Osman (NCSU), Sadat Pollard (SCSU), Jialun Wang (NCSU), Julian I. Colvin (NCSU). Advisers: Maria Avramova (NCSU), Kostadin Ivanov (NCSU), Baxter Durham (Westinghouse)
Track Area: Poster Session
Optimization of Pure Elemental Shielding Materials for Cost
Christopher B. Peete (NCSU), Stephen J. Trainor (NCSU). Advisers: Robert B. Hayes (NCSU) & Eric Giavedoni (Grove Engineering)
Track Area: Radiation Protection and Medical Physics
Application of a Tuning Forks in Measuring Viscosity and Density of Molten Salt Systems
Ryan J. Charrette (NCSU), Harrison Q. Storms (NCSU), Declan R. Miller (NCSU), Madison A. Turmon (SCSU). Advisers: Alexander W. Bataller (NCSU), Aslak Stubsgaard & Jesper Glahn (Copenhagen Atomics)
Track Area: Instrumentation, Control Systems, and Cyber Security
Design and Testing of Low Pressure Heated Subcapsule for Use in Irradiation Experiments
Alexandra G. Akins (NCSU), Treyvon Griffin (SCSU), Henry Osborne (NCSU), Cooper Trucks (NCSU). Advisers: Ge Yang (NCSU) & Joe J. Palmer (INL)
Track Area: Instrumentation, Control Systems, and Cyber Security
Design of a Digital Twin-based Autonomous Control for an Advanced Reactor
Travis Vaughan (NCSU), Braden Arnold (NCSU), Jeremy Ray (SCSU), Derek Freeman (NCSU). Advisers: Nam Dinh (NCSU), Jeffrey Lane (Zachry) & Linyu Lin (INL)
Track Area: Poster Session
Neutronics Analysis of Advanced Reactor Vessel Emissivity
Patrick Walther (NCSU), Victor R. Gonzalez-Ibarra (NCSU), Dakota Randle (SCSU) and Cameron Wagoner (NCSU). Advisers: Xu Wu (NCSU), John F. Zino (GE Hitachi) & Zachary Sweeney (GE Hitachi)
Track Area: Poster Session
24-month Cycle Transition and Optimization for a 4-Loop PWR Core
Luke G. Shuler (NCSU), Matthew F. Nash (NCSU), Jendayi Brown (SCSU), Maximiliano J. Velasco (NCSU). Advisers: Scott P. Palmtag (NCSU), Duncan Robinson & Dallas Swihart (Duke Energy)
Track Area: Reactor Physics
Design and Optimization of the Core and Fuel Cycle in a 20 MW Pebble Bed Reactor
Grayson S. Gall (NCSU), James Krec (NCSU), Ershaud Naderi (NCSU). Advisers: Pascal Rouxelin & Kostadin Ivanov
Track Area: Poster Session
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH PROJECTS
Anomaly Detection in a Cold Trap Liquid Sodium Purification System through Multisensory Data Fusion with Deep Learning Autoencoders
Alexandra G. Akins (NCSU). Adviser: Alexander Heifetz (ANL)
Track Area: Computational Methods, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning
Cycle Analysis for Generic Westinghouse 2-Loop PWR
Matthew F. Nash (NCSU). Adviser: Scott P. Palmtag (NCSU)
Track Area: Poser Session
Development and Evaluation of Parallel Simulated Annealing Algorithm for Reactor Core Optimization Problems
Robert J. Mikouchi-Lopez (NCSU), Gregory K. Delipei (NCSU). Adviser: Jason Hou (NCSU)
Track Area: Lightning Talk
Molten Salt Material Quantification with Glow Discharge Electrolysis
Alina Jugan (NCSU), Kayla Hahn (NCSU). Adviser: Alexander W. Bataller (NCSU)
Track Area: Poster Session
Modeling B&W Nuclear Reactors Using a Nodal Core Simulator
Zachary D. Bevans (NCSU). Adviser: Scott P. Palmtag (NCSU)
Track Area: Reactor Physics
Photon Radiation Shielding Evaluation of Metal and Metal Oxide Infused Conformal Coating in MicroShield Pro
Ryan J. Charrette (NCSU). Adviser: Robert B. Hayes (NCSU)
Track Area: Space Nuclear Power and Propulsion
PLENARIES
Passing the Torch
Larry Satkowiak (ORNL), Lisa Marshall (NCSU), Jeremy Mettler (UIllinois), Julie Ezold (US DOE)
Being a Nuclear Influencer
Katie Mummah (LANL), Robert Hayes (NCSU), Kaylee Cunningham (MIT), Isabelle Boemeke (Isodope)
PANELS
Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Moderators: Lance M. Drouet (Univ. Tennessee, Knoxville), Madeline L. Lockhart (NCSU)
Panelists: Harsh S. Desai (Zeno Power Systems), H.M. Hashemian (AMS Corporation), Sandi Larson (21 Consulting Group)
Impact of Covid-19 on Educational and Career Outcomes
Moderators: Lance M. Drouet (Univ. Tennessee, Knoxville), Lane B. Carasik (Virginia Commonwealth Univ.)
Panelists: April Novak (ANL), Brooke Bates (Dominion Energy), Lisa Marshall (NCSU)