MIT Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering
No – Our field is nuclear science and engineering which means there are many other opportunities at national laboratories, engineering firms, design companies, medical application firms, hospitals, consulting companies, and fusion research. However, you could also work in either a power plant or the engineering support organization for nuclear plants.
No – Actually working with radioactive materials is a small part of the profession but even if you do the nuclear industry is statistically one of the safest according to the Occupational Health and Safety Administration. Radiation exposures are very low even for nuclear workers at power plants and national laboratories.
A degree in nuclear engineering is based on a strong foundation in mathematics, physics, thermodynamics and energy transport, reliability and materials engineering, electrical circuits, computer science, medical physics, and biological sciences. On top of these basics we add nuclear engineering courses that focus on the atomic nature of things. It is thus very broad.
While this is possible, starting as a nuclear engineer as an undergraduate gives you a great head start in your graduate degree program where you can specialize quicker which means you can get your master’s degree quicker and start your Ph.D. research sooner. In addition, the department offers a 5 year masters and 7 year Ph.D. program. With the 5 year program you can do just one thesis for both a B.S and M.S. degree!
A small department is a home. You will know your faculty, your fellow students and you will get personal attention not possible in larger departments. Course 22 allows for a great deal of flexibility in your educational experience.
With a bachelors degree in nuclear engineering from MIT you will be educated in the fundamentals of engineering with a nuclear application. Career options for bachelor’s degree range from working in the power field to working on engineering of medical imaging systems to Wall Street where you can apply your risk assessment knowledge. In general 2/3rds of our undergraduates go for advanced degrees.
The Nuclear Science and Engineering Department fully supports UROPS for all freshman interested in becoming nuclear engineers. We will find a mutually interesting UROP and guarantee it for freshman. The department also supports many upper class UROPs as they prepare for their research work.
In fact, there is a growing shortage of nuclear engineers which will provide even higher salaries than already being paid to nuclear engineering graduates. Some students are being recruited even before they have finished their degree work. Statistically, the salary for nuclear engineers is rated as the second highest paid engineering profession.
Working for a consulting company, research, radiological physics, government, Department of Energy, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Navy, National Laboratories, nuclear generating companies, nuclear system vendors designing reactor systems, fusion research in magnetic or inertial confinement, medical firms, pharmaceutical companies, national defense firms, think tanks, investment managers, research analysts, etc.
Course 22 has developed a pre-med track to help students get into graduate school. In addition because of our affiliation with local hospitals the pre-med experience is practical. Most students who are interested in pre-med have interests in practice in radiological applications in diagnosis and therapy.
In the United States, there are approximately 2 million applications of nuclear procedures every year. These applications include radiation treatment of cancer, diagnoses of diseases, nuclear magnetic resonance imaging, gamma knife surgery, brain scans, and boron neutron capture therapy being developed at MIT. The field of radiation oncology is an emerging field to help patients deal with debilitating diseases.
