重要的想法:2016年研究报告

对熟练的新工程师的需求爱达荷国家实验室 — combined with an ever-growing demand for clean energy — has led the 伊利诺伊大学工程学院 to increase its investment in nuclear engineering research.

“The real need is for the country’s primary energy source to be environmentally friendly,” says Vivek Utgikar, the college’s associate dean for research and economic development. “Nuclear is obviously one of the big contributing players that can satisfy whatever constraints that are placed on new energy sources.”

学院的核工程专业 has components at U of I in Moscow and is a cornerstone of U of I Idaho Falls, 它被安置在协作中心的哪里高级能源研究中心.

投资研究

The majority of U of I nuclear engineering research is conducted in partnership with INL and funded by the U.S. 能源部.

“There’s a broad spectrum of research activities that go from feed sources to treatment of waste,乌特吉卡尔说.

在一系列项目中, researchers study the details of high-temperature reactions, create control systems for nuclear power plants and design hybrid systems that use heat from nuclear power generation to make transportation fuels.

Other projects focus on safety issues such as designing secure nuclear facilities and treating spent nuclear fuel to prevent contamination. Utgikar and his students investigate methods for capturing radioactive gas emissions and immobilizing them so they can’t cause damage.

In 2015, the college hired new 核工程专业 director Richard Christensen, 曾在俄亥俄州立大学任教, an expert in heat transfer who holds 13 patents in heat exchanger design.

Utgikar and Christensen emphasize that U of I is striving to develop broader and deeper research partnerships among U of I researchers, 与INL和其他公司合作.

“Engineering is not a silo where you go sit in a corner and do it by yourself,克里斯滕森说. “Part of the objective is to go to your customer and say, ‘What do you need?’”

例如, the recent announcement by the 能源部 to support possible siting of a small modular nuclear reactor within in the boundaries of the INL site has sparked renewed interested in many disciplines support nuclear power development at CAES, 汤姆·伍德说, 伊利诺伊大学CAES的副主任, 也就是55,000-square-foot research facility in Idaho Falls that brings together researchers from U of I, INL, 爱达荷州立大学, 博伊西州立大学和怀俄明大学.

“Utilities continue to search for solutions to long-term, baseload energy needs. Small modular reactors hold real promise for development of safe, 可靠的, low carbon alternative for safely addressing long term energy needs in the West and the rest of the world,迈克·哈古德说, CAES副主任.

UI nuclear energy research Vivek Utgikar works in his lab.

投资师资队伍

In October 2015, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission awarded U of I $434,000 for faculty development.

旨在加强整个程序, it specifically invests in four faculty members: Fatih Aydogan, who studies safety systems; Krishnan Raja and Raghunath Kanakala, who study the environmental degradation of nuclear materials; and Robert Borrelli, who studies methods to safeguard the nuclear fuel cycle.

Utgikar said the three-year grant will help these younger, tenure-track faculty members develop their expertise, expand their research and improve their lab capabilities. It also will allow the researchers to develop new courses, and in turn attract new graduate students.

The grant “puts us in good company and good competition,克里斯滕森说. “We’re going to take the results of that and help the faculty here grow.”

投资学生

The 核工程专业 currently enrolls 60 part-time and full-time graduate students annually, 学院的目标是让它发展壮大.

In addition to drawing in more students at the master’s and Ph.D. 水平, Christensen is looking to expand opportunities for undergraduates to gain a foundation in nuclear engineering — particularly to support INL.

“If an undergrad has a working knowledge of nuclear engineering, 他们有很多, 对网站来说更有价值,克里斯滕森说.

虽然核工程师尤其重要, students studying other realms of engineering and other disciplines are in demand.

“在CAES和bet365亚洲官网, we are very excited about the growing opportunities we see in nuclear energy, not only for nuclear engineers but for a host of students in many science and engineering disciplines,伍德说. “机械, 化学, 民事, electrical and materials engineers will be needed along with scientists in geology, 地球物理学, environmental science and economics to install a new reactor at the INL site.”