2018 Awards
Dennis Whyte receives Fusion Power Associates Leadership Award
The Fusion Power Associates (FPA) Board of Directors has awarded its 2018 Leadership Award to Prof. Dennis Whyte, Head of the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering and Director of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center.
Pablo Ducru, one of two from MIT named Schwarzman Scholars for 2020
As a Schwarzman Scholar, NSE’ grad student Pablo Ducru hopes to explore building ventures in China that harness algorithms and artificial intelligence to address challenges in energy, agriculture, health, and environmental sectors.
Jayson Vavrek wins award for Best Student Presentation at ANS
Fifth-year graduate student, Jayson Vavrek, was winner of the Best Student Presentation in the Advances in Nuclear Nonproliferation Technology and Policy section of the 2018 ANS Winter Meeting for his presentation entitled “Warhead verification experiments using nuclear resonance fluorescence”.
Xingang Zhao wins 2018 Young Professional Thermal Hydraulics Research Competition
Fifth-year NSE graduate student, Xingang Zhao, won the 2018 Young Professional Thermal Hydraulics Research Competition for his presentation entitled “Machine Learning-Based Critical Heat Flux Predictors in Low Quality Flow Boiling”.
NSE’s Baglietto honored for mentorship of grad students
Professor Emilio Baglietto was nominated by his graduate students as a model of great mentorship, and is among the current slate of honorees for Committed to Caring (C2C).
Bilge Yildiz and team win 2018 Purdy award
Professor Bilge Yildiz and her research team have won the Ross Coffin Purdy award for 2018 for their paper, “Improved chemical and electrochemical stability of perovskite oxides with less reducible cations at the surface”.
Raspberry Simpson awarded Department of Energy fellowship
NSE doctoral candidate, Raspberry Simpson, is one of four students in a new program that supports their studies at a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) facility. The DOE National Nuclear Security Administration Laboratory Residency Graduate Fellowship (DOE NNSA LRGF) focuses on Ph.D. candidates working in selected areas important to national security.
NSE’s Lanza named 2018 American Physical Society Fellow
Richard Lanza, Senior Research Scientist in Nuclear Science and Engineering has been named a fellow of the American Physical Society (APS). Nominated by the Forum on Physics and Society, Lanza was cited, “[f]or innovative application of physics and the development of new technologies to allow detection of explosives and weapon-usable nuclear materials, which has greatly benefited national and international security.”
NSE’s Whyte receives Fusion Power Associates Leadership Award
Dennis Whyte, Head of the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, and Director of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center is being recognized for “the leadership [he has] been providing to the world fusion effort, by emphasizing the importance of seeking continued improvements in both scientific and engineering foundations that will improve the prospects for fusion’s commercial success.”
Team led by NSE’s Shirvan wins NEUP award
An NSE reesearch team has been awarded an NEUP grant for their project titled “Evaluation of Economic Benefits of Accident Tolerant Plants through Risk-Informed Approaches”. NSE’s Prof. Koroush Shirvan, Prof. Mike Golay, and Dr. Xu Wu will partner with University of Wisconsin-Madison and Idaho National Laboratory to investigate pathways to increase the accident tolerance of nuclear power plants through utilization of existing resources and accident tolerant fuel concepts. The primary goal is to utilize the increase in safety margin to lower the cost of operation and maintenance of existing NPPs through risk informed approaches.
Alex Creely receives Itoh Project Prize
Doctoral study could speed fusion research by shortening simulation time
2018 NSE + ANS Annual Awards
The Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering and the student chapter of the American Nuclear Society hosted their anual awards dinner on May 14, 2018.
Three NSE profs recognized for exceptional mentorship
NSE’s Emilio Baglietto, Paola Cappellaro, and Ju Li are in the third slate of dedicated professors to receive MIT’s Committed to Caring Award.
2016 + 2017 Del Favero Thesis Prize
Jon Walsh (2016 winner) and Ashok Ajoy (2017 winner) were awarded The Del Favero Thesis Prize.
NSE alum Luisa Kenausis awarded a Herbert Scoville Jr. Peace Fellowship
Luisa Kenausis is working with Alexandra Bell (Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation) on U.S. nuclear weapons policy, nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament, nuclear issues in North Korea and Iran, and the U.S. defense budget. Her tasks include responding rapidly to significant developments in these areas, conducting longer-term research on these issues, and exploring the potential role of education (both public and higher education) in the future of nuclear disarmament.
NSE’s Kommajosyula and Baglietto win best poster award at International Conference on Boiling and Condensation Heat Transfer
The work presented by Ravikishore Kommajosyula and Emilio Baglietto on “A cavity-size-independent model for bubble departure frequency based on thermal boundary layer energy limit” was given the best poster award in the 10th International Conference on Boiling and Condensation Heat Transfer, held during 11–15 March 2018 in Nagasaki. There were 3 Poster sessions including a total of over 120 posters, out of which 4 posters from each session were awarded the Best Poster award.
Department of Nuclear Science & Engineering
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