Nuclear Science & Engineering: Course 22
UROP represents an excellent opportunity for students to become familiar with the nuclear engineering field. Nuclear engineering is an applied science related to many areas ranging from biomedical applications to development of nuclear energy for power sources.
The Nuclear Science & Engineering Department offers during the academic year departmental UROP stipend awards in varying amounts. Preference will be given to freshmen and undesignated sophomores. The awards are given to support and encourage UROP participation in the areas listed below.
The three major nuclear engineering disciplines are:
- Fission Reactors: reactor engineering, reactor physics and fuel management, nuclear materials, and reliability and risk analysis;
- Controlled Fusion: applied plasma physics and fusion reactor technology;
- Nuclear Science and Technology, including Biomedical Applications: condensed matter sciences, biomedical and radiological sciences, and physical metallurgy and;
Students are invited to discuss their particular objectives with the UROP Coordinator, who will refer them to the appropriate faculty member.
Related Area for UROP:
Safety
The department requires all lab workers to pass a safety quiz and complete a Safety & Training Record with their P.I. or lab supervisor. Contact Dorian Cohen in 24-108 or call x3-3803 to make arrangements.
Faculty Research Descriptions
The following projects are examples of research opportunities suggested by the listed faculty. Other projects may result from a match between the area of interest of a faculty member and a student.
- Prof. Emilio Baglietto, 24-204, x 3-4231, emiliob@mit.edu
- Computational fluid dynamics applications to single and multiphase flow and heat transfer.
- Prof. Ronald G. Ballinger, NW22-117, x3-5118, hvymet@mit.edu
- Materials testing, stress corrosion cracking, environmental effects, fusion materials development, irradiation effects, modeling of corrosion, fracture mechanics, fatigue, and much else.
- Prof. Jacopo Buongiorno, 24-206, x3-7316, jacopo@mit.edu
- Design of advanced water-cooled reactors; investigation of nanofluid coolants for nuclear applications; two-phase flow and heat transfer.
- Prof. Paola Cappellaro, 26-303, x3-8137, pcappell@mit.edu
- Quantum dynamics and control in spin systems; Nuclear Magnetic Resonance for quantum information processing; Optically detected resonance of Nitrogen-Vacancy center in diamond; Quantum optimal control theory; Magnetometry and quantum metrology. Quantum Engineering Group
- Prof. Sow-Hsin Chen, 24-209A, x3-3810, sowhsin@mit.edu
- Applications of neutrons to physical, chemical, and biological problems; small angle neutron scattering studies of proteins and supramolecular aggregates such as micelles and microemulsions in solutions; neutron and x-ray reflectivity technique for surface depth profiling. Applications of accelerator neutron sources.
- Prof. Benoit Forget, 24-214, x3-1655, bforget@mit.edu
- - Nuclear Reactor simulations
- High performance computing
- Deterministic and Stochastic methods development
MIT Computational Reactor Physics Group - Prof. Jeffrey Freidberg, nw16-254, x3-8670, jpfreid@mit.edu
- Building a microwave plasma interferometer, a diagnostic that measures plasma density.
- Prof. Michael W. Golay, 24-223, x3-5824, golay@mit.edu
- Risk-informed nuclear safety regulation; construction project risk control; numerical modeling of fluid flow in rotating pumps; smart equipment systems; software reliability evaluation; system dynamics modeling; nuclear seismic nuclear risk and policy evaluation.
- Prof. Ian H. Hutchinson, NW17-135, x3-8760, hutch@mit.edu
- Tokamak plasma physics, mechanical and electrical engineering design relating to AlcatorC-mod. Students are welcome to propose topics related to toroidal confinement. Alcator C-Mod Project
- Prof. Alan Jasanoff, NW14-2213, x 2-2538, jasanoff@mit.edu
- Magnetic resonance imaging of reward-related behavior in animals; development of new MRI contrast agents for neuroimaging; molecular imaging applied to study neural function in single cells and circuits.
- Prof. Mujid S. Kazimi, 24-219, x3-4206, kazimi@mit.edu
- Engineering and economic analysis of advanced fission reactors and fuel cycle facilities. Comparative analysis of the performance of alternative systems of energy production for sustainable economic and environmental development; analysis of radioactive waste storage and disposal options including transmutation of spent nuclear fuel. MIT Program on Nuclear Fuel Cycle Economics and Environmental Policy & MIT Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems.
- Prof. R. Scott Kemp, 24-208, 617-324-3308, rsk@MIT.EDU
- - Nuclear Nonproliferation
- Nuclear Disarmament
- Societal Challenges for Nuclear Power - Dr. Richard C. Lanza, NW13-221, x3-2399, lanza@mit.edu
- Radiation science and technology; development of new techniques and instrumentation for non-destructive testing and medical imaging; neutron tomography for three-dimensional imaging of flaws and corrosion in aircraft and large machinery; development of new radiation detectors for digital mammography and brain imaging; two- and three-dimensional imaging and tomography using x-rays, gamma rays, and laser light; coded aperture imagers for high resolution imaging in nuclear medicine; nuclear techniques for detection of explosives and contraband; humanitarian demining. CastScan Research Program
- Prof. Felix Parra, NW16-243, x3-9741, fparra@mit.edu
- - modeling of turbulence in nuclear fusion devices
- theory for fusion
- astrophysical and partially ionized plasmas - Prof. Neil E. Todreas, 24-205, x3-5296, todreas@mit.edu
- Thermalhydraulic laboratory experiments and computer analyses on problems of importance to energy extraction and safety analysis in nuclear power reactors.
- Prof. Bilge Yildiz, 24-210, 617-324-4009, byildiz@mit.edu
- - energy conversion with fuel cells and electrolysis cells
- nanoscale materials
- materials in extreme environments
- surface science experiments
- atomic scale modeling and simulations.
Laboratory for Electrochemical Interfaces - Prof. Sidney Yip, 24-208, x3-3809, syip@mit.edu
- Molecular modeling and simulation in materials research. Computer graphics and visualization, such as building an atomic camera, to probe the structure and dynamics of solids and liquids. Yip Group Homepage: Multiscale Materials Modeling Group
