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Matt Dodds with his winning poster

Matt Dodds, a senior nuclear engineering undergraduate student, was awarded second place in the Undergraduate Category for Best Poster at the 2011 American Nuclear Society Winter Meeting held in Washington, D.C.

The poster, titled “Investigation on Interfacial Structures in Horizontal Bubbly Flow,” focused on establishing a database of local two-phase flow parameters in horizontal flow and was co-authored by nuclear engineering graduate students Justin D. Talley and Ted Worosz.

Through enrollment in the Nuclear Engineering Independent Study course (NUCE 496) at Penn State, Matt gained practical experience in performing two-phase flow experiments at the AMFL, which provided physical insight into his other engineering course work.

Katie Kirsch with her winning poster

Katie Kirsch, a senior mechanical engineering undergraduate student, earned the Best Poster Award for Undergraduates at the 2010 American Nuclear Society Student Poster Competition held in Las Vegas, Nev., last November.

The poster, titled “Two-phase flow in combinatorial flow channels,” studied the geometric effects of 90-degree vertical elbows in two-phase flow transport and was coauthored by nuclear engineering graduate student Chad Green and mechanical engineering graduate student Mohan Yadav.

“I learned so much about how flow restrictions affect two-phase flow parameters,” said Kirsch, “but more importantly, I learned by these parameters are so important in reactor systems and the physical implications of the flow visualizations I was performing.”

Though Kirsch is a mechanical engineering major, she got involved with a nuclear-related research project through her work at Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, where she held a position over the past two summers.

“The work was incredibly interesting and technical, so I took an interest in nuclear-related research,” Kirsch said.

Last July, Kirsch was the first runner up in the student paper competition at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ (ASME) 2010 Pressure Vessels and Piping Division Conference, and in 2009 she won first place in a student paper competition at an international ASME conference held in Prague. Kirsch is also involved with the Engineering Ambassadors, an outreach group that visits middle and high schools around Pennsylvania to give short presentations on engineering topics.

James Spring, winner of the Pittsburgh Local
Section Graduate Scholarship Award.

Mohan Yadav, winner of the Saul Levine
Memorial Scholarship Award.

Five MNE students have been awarded with American Nuclear Society (ANS) scholarships: Jacob Planinsek, James Spring, Mohan Yadav, Sarah Bender and Matthew Ellis.

Planinsek, a nuclear engineering undergraduate student and member of the Schreyer Honors College, received the Decommissioning, Decontamination & Reutilization Division Undergraduate Scholarship Award. This award recognizes students pursuing a degree with an emphasis on decommissioning/decontamination, management/characterization of radioactive waste, restoration of the environment or nuclear engineering.

Spring, a nuclear engineering graduate student pursuing a Ph.D., received the Pittsburgh Local Section Graduate Scholarship Award. This award recognizes students who have some affiliation with Western Pennsylvania or who attend school at a nearby university within the region.

Yadav, a mechanical engineering graduate student pursuing a Ph.D., received the Saul Levine Memorial Scholarship Award. This award supports graduate education in honor of Saul Levine, one of the pioneers in advancing the understanding of nuclear reactor safety.

Bender, a nuclear engineering graduate student pursuing a Ph.D., received the Vogt Radiochemistry Scholarship Award. This award recognizes students who plan to undertake research in radio-analytical chemistry, analytical chemistry or analytical applications of nuclear science.

Ellis, an undergraduate student pursuing a dual major in mechanical and nuclear engineering, received the Operation & Power Division Scholarship Award. This award recognizes excellent students pursuing degrees in nuclear science and engineering.

Penn State nuclear engineering
students at the 2010 ANS Student
Conference.

The 2010 American Nuclear Society (ANS) Student Conference, held from April 8-11 at the University of Michigan, was attended by 25 Penn State nuclear engineering students, including both undergrads and graduate students.

Four Penn State students made technical presentations, and two came home with technical awards.

Frank Nedwidek, a nuclear engineering graduate student, won a Best Paper Award in the Thermal-Hydraulics session for his paper, “Investigation of geometric effects on a 90-degree vertical elbow in two-phase flow.” Zachary Van Horn, a nuclear engineering undergraduate, won a Best Paper Award in the Nuclear Engineering and the Environment session for his paper, “Environmental connection.”

The Penn State ANS Chapter was also mentioned at the awards dinner banquet for Best Chapter for Student Support, for students’ consistent support and participation during the conference.

The ANS student chapter adviser is Dr. Seungjin Kim, Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering. Nedwidek is the current chapter president.

(Left to right) Suchismita Sarangi and
Jenna Baird with their first place
poster.

Students in the Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering secured first and second place in the American Nuclear Society (ANS) Student Poster Session at the 2009 ANS Winter Conference, held in Washington, D.C., last November.

The first place Best Poster Award went to Suchismita Sarangi, graduate student in ME, Rachael Sakurai, undergraduate student in NucE, and Jenna Baird, graduate student in NucE, for their poster on “Postulated Air-ingress Phenomenon in VHTR.”

The second place Best Poster Award went to Mohan Yadav, graduate student in ME, and Frank Nedwidek and James Spring, both graduate students in NucE, for their poster on “Two-phase flow in combinatorial channels.”

All student poster winners are advised by Dr. Seungjin Kim, Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering.

Spring 2008 MNE Newsletter.

"Bubbles may not be something that cross your mind when you think about reactor safety. In fact, most people are not aware that the bubble transport is one of the key phenomena to consider..." Full story

In the article, "Enhancing Reactor Safety Via Dynamic Modeling of Bubble Transport", Dr. Kim's research lab was showcased in the Spring edition of the MNE Engineering Newsletter.

The entire Spring edition of the MNE Engineering Newsletter can be viewed from the link below.

Full Newsletter

Winter 2007-08 Engineering
Impact Newsletter.

"Between them, they have four engineering degrees from Purdue University, earned four decades apart. Both are experts in nuclear thermalhydraulics..." Full story

In the article, "Big Ten Connection: Purdue University to Penn State", two former Boliermakers, Dr. Kim and Dr. Hochreiter, were highlighted in their journies from Purdue University to Penn State University.

The entire Winter edition of Purdue University's Engineering Impact Newletter can be viewed from the link below.

Full Newsletter