Students, faculty and staff from the Department of Nuclear Engineering at Texas A&M University attended the 2016 American Nuclear Society (ANS) Winter Meeting and Nuclear Technology Expo in Las Vegas. The theme of this year’s winter conference was the application of nuclear science and technology toward sustainable energy issues. The department hosted a booth at the conference for those interested in the nuclear programs and facilities.
The conference included over 500 technical sessions and provided networking opportunities for students, researchers and faculty to meet with professionals in the nuclear field from all over the world. A highlight of this year’s winter meeting was the inclusion of the High Temperature Reactor Technology (HTR) Conference, an international conference focusing on technological advances within high-temperature, gas cooled reactors and heat technology. The conference also hosted the 2016 ANS Design Competition, in which an undergraduate team from Texas A&M was selected as a finalist and came in second place.
Faculty and students within the department continue to hold leadership positions and maintain active involvement within ANS, including contributions toward conference proceedings, chairman positions and contributions within their given fields.
Dr. Sunil Chirayath, a research assistant professor within the department and the director of the Nuclear Security Science and Policy Institute (NSSPI), is associated with both ANS’ Reactor Physics Division and the Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy Division. Chirayath contributes extended abstracts to conference proceedings to both the ANS winter and summer meetings.
Dr. Yassin Hassan is the department head and full professor within the department. He is a ANS Fellow and was awarded the ANS Seaborg Medal in 2008, recognizing his contributions to the peaceful use of nuclear technology. Hassan has contributed more than 300 ANS summaries, one of the largest for any ANS member since the society was established.
Dr. Mark Kimber is an assistant professor within the department and is currently the vice chairman for ANS national honor society Alpha Nu Sigma. During the annual ANS winter meeting, Alpha Sigma Nu organizes a student poster competition. In previous years, the competition has drawn anywhere from 30 to 35 posters from undergraduate and graduate student competitors, respectively. In the 2016 winter meeting, there were 68 total presentations. The top three presentations from both the undergraduate and graduate categories receive a cash prize.
Dr. Jean Ragusa, a full professor within the department and the associate director for the Institute for Scientific Computation (ISC), is serving his second term on the executive committee of the Mathematics and Computations Division of ANS. Ragusa will serve as the co-chair of the technical program for the division’s next international mathematics and computations topical meeting in 2019.
Dr. Pavel Tsvetkov, an associate professor and faculty graduate adviser within the department, is involved within nine divisions of ANS, primarily with the Reactor Physics Division of which he was previously chairman. As a chairman, Tsvetkov would set the election ballot for division officers. He has also served an active role in ANS as the vice chairman of the ANS book publishing committee, which manages ANS book publications.