Congratulations to Dr. Jason Hou, associate professor at NC State University Department of Nuclear Engineering. He is the recipient of the Fulbright U.S. Scholar to Italy for 2024-25.

His research project, “An Interactive Nuclear Power Plant Simulator to Support Outreach and Public Engagement”, aims to enhance the public understanding of nuclear power. Dr. Hou will work with researchers at Politecnico di Milano to develop a basic principle open-source nuclear power plant simulator based on next generation nuclear technology. They will create an engaging and effective learning experience around the simulator, thus offering a scientifically informed and community-aligned approach to education. This work is also expected to yield enduring collaborations beyond the project term between the Department of Nuclear Engineering at NC State, the academic community at his host institution, and the nuclear industry in Italy more broadly.

Dr. Hou leads the Advanced Reactor Design & Optimization Research (ARDOR) Lab at NC State where they focus on nuclear power design and safety analysis. An emphasis lies on advancing scientific understanding of advanced nuclear reactor (AR) technologies. The development and deployment of AR systems, along with existing nuclear reactors, will fortify nuclear energy as a zero-emission clean energy source and a vital piece of the energy portfolio in the carbon neutral future of our society. There is a focus on the development, implementation, and application of state-of-the-art modeling and simulation (M&S) capabilities in a multiphysics context to accelerate nuclear innovation and deployment of ARs.

The Fulbright Scholar Awards are prestigious and competitive fellowships that provide unique opportunities for scholars to teach and conduct research abroad. Fulbright scholars also play a critical role in U.S. public diplomacy, establishing long-term relationships between people and nations. Alumni of the Fulbright Program include 62 Nobel Laureates, 89 Pulitzer Prize winners, 80 MacArthur Fellows, and thousands of leaders and world-renowned experts in academia and many other fields across the private, public, and non-profit sectors. NC State University has been recently recognized as one of only 12 colleges and universities named as a Fulbright Top Producing Institution for both Fulbright U.S. Scholars and Students.