While it may not be the nucleus of the nuclear renaissance, the School of Nuclear Engineering is certainly making the West Lafayette campus a hotspot for surfacing energy topics. Controversies aside, our school has played host to world-renowned visiting speakers, benefitted from funding on several research fronts, and continues to groom students for a role in the nuclear power resurgence. When it comes to energy and power solutions, if it’s happening anywhere at Purdue it’s certainly happening within our relatively small school.

Beginning with a visit by Peter Lyons (see his “In My View” article), the Nuclear Regulatory Commissioner who provided the keynote for Purdue’s Student Pugwash Midwest Conference around the spring equinox, our school hosted several speakers on campus who make up a virtual “who’s who” of the nuclear power industry. Paul Lisowkski, the deputy assistant energy secretary from the U.S. Department of Energy, spoke later in March about a Global Nuclear Partnership that “supports a safe, secure expansion of nuclear power internationally and domestically.”

Victor Chrjapin, a project director for nuclear construction for URS-Washington Division’s power business unit based in Princeton, New Jersey, responsible for construction planning in preparation for the nuclear renaissance, discussed the resurrection of the U.S. commercial nuclear industry in April. And Larry Hochreiter (BSNE ’63, MSNE ’67, PhD ’71), a professor of nuclear and mechanical engineering at Penn State, spoke to students at the end of the spring semester about the technical challenges of his career, which began at Westinghouse.

On the Funding Front
Several researchers brought in various awards from national and international agencies, including the U.S. Department of Energy (Ahmed Hassanein), the Department of Energy’s Office of Science (Jean Paul Allain), and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Igor Jovanovic). For stories about the potential impact these researchers are making, read the “Up Close: Faculty” feature on Jeffrey Brooks, who is collaborating with Hassanein, and the “Campaign Impact” (page xx) on Allain and Jovanovic, both recently named “Young Scholars.”

Student Success
According to the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, last year Purdue graduated nearly 10 percent of all the nuclear engineering students earning bachelor degrees in the country (39 out of 413) and a little more than 10 percent of all the graduate students earning doctorates (nine out of 89).

Purdue’s School of Nuclear Engineering has almost tripled over the past seven years, with 135 undergraduates in the program this past fall compared to 45 in 2000, says Erica Timmerman of the school’s student services department. In fall 2007, the school had 46 sophomores, its largest class of sophomores ever. Forty sophomores are anticipated to enter into the school next fall.

With graduates receiving offers of more than $60,000 per year because of high employer demand, the futures of nuclear youngsters look bright indeed.