The University of Michigan has been a world leader in education for

well over a century. According to the U-M International Institute

there are more than 400 faculty affiliates from 37 U-M colleges,

schools, and departments; $3 million in funds distributed annually

to 375 U-M faculty and staff for international research and study;

and U-M has more Fulbright student awards than any other U.S. university in

2005, 2007, and 2008.

“The world is today’s college campus. Never before have we had so much to

learn from other nations and cultures. Students look to the university to take

advantage of its global connections to expose them to a broad, international

perspective,” says Mary Sue Coleman, president of the University of Michigan in

a video address on the U-M Global Engagement Web site. Continued on page 3

U-M students explore China’s new nuclear frontier

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Sanmen AP-1000 NPP construction site.

Letter from the Chair

I have been honored to assume the Chairmanship

of the Nuclear Engineering and Radiological

Sciences Department since September 1, 2010.

I appreciate the support of UM faculty, staff, stu-

dents and alumni that led to this appointment.

There are several reasons that NERS is the exceptional

department that it is today: our dedicated faculty, our

commitment to educating the next generation of leaders

in the nuclear engineering field and our outstanding

students and alumni.

This department attained its top ranking by excel-

lence in teaching and research programs founded on

the shoulders of giants such as the late Bill Kerr, John

King, Chihiro Kikuchi, Richard Osborn, Louis Hamilton

and George Summerfield, as well as Emeritus faculty

Glenn Knoll, Terry Kammash, Ziya Ackasu and Dieter

Vincent. With the nuclear renaissance underway in the

US and abroad, I am pleased to report that the depart-

ment is still growing, with 20 tenure track faculty

members as well as a new faculty position in fission

reactor engineering (search underway).

The quality of our students is our most important

resource. Our undergraduate enrollment has reached

an all-time high of some 140 students. Graduate

enrollment is at an excellent level of some 120

students. NERS faculty research expenditures now

approach some 13 million dollars annually.

We can boast a successful and loyal body of alumni

who have been very supportive to the NERS depart-

ment in a variety of ways. Their continued support is

crucial. We will continue to rely on the experience of

these dedicated alumni for advice and assistance in

navigating this new era of nuclear power development

and homeland security challenges.

Finally, I wish to thank Professor Bill Martin for his

service to the NERS Department over many years.

In closing, I look forward to meeting and working

with our students and loyal alumni during the next

five years.

Go Blue!

Ron Gilgenbach

Chair and Chihiro Kikuchi Collegiate Professor

Forrest BrownDiagnostics Applications GroupLos Alamos National LaboratoryLos Alamos, NM

Frederick BuckmanPresident, Power GroupN4 Development

Jack M. DavisSr. VP and Chief Nuclear OfficerDECo, Fermi 2

Jonathan (Josh) GrindlayProfessorDepartment of Astronomy, Harvard University

Simon LabovDirector, Radiation Detection CenterLawrence Livermore National LaboratoryLivermore, CA

Richard LanzaSenior Research ScientistDepartment of Nuclear Science & EngineeringMassachusetts Institute of Technology

Thomas A. MehlhornSuperintendent, Plasma Physics DivisionNaval Research LaboratoryWashington, DC

Arthur T. MottaChair and ProfessorNuclear Engineering ProgramPennsylvania State University

G. Robert Odette ProfessorMechanical Engineering & MaterialsUniversity of California, Santa Barbara

Charles A. SchrockPresident & CEOIntegrys Energy Group, Chicago, IL

Dr. Joseph SchumerPulsed Power Physics BranchPlasma Physics DivisionNaval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC

Jasmina VujicProfessorDepartment of Nuclear EngineeringUniversity of California, Berkeley

Dr. Steven J. ZinkleDirector, Materials Science and Technology DivisionOak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN

Advisory Board

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The Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences (NERS)

department also recognizes the importance of an interna-

tional perspective for their students. Next summer Professor

Lumin Wang will take up to 15 undergraduate students to

China for a one-month exposure to China’s nuclear power

development. Partially funded through a grant from the

Global Intercultural Experience for Undergraduate Program,

the students will explore the nuclear power renaissance that

China is experiencing through site tours, lectures, as well as

interaction with local Chinese. Dr. Wang is partnering with

Xiamen University in China.

“The U.S. has the largest nuclear power plant fleet in the

world but they are all second generation, mostly built over 30

years ago. Currently, China has the largest developing nuclear

program in the world, with 25 nuclear power plant construc-

tion sites underway. Four of them are third generation U.S.

designed plants. I want to give our students an opportunity

to witness firsthand all the facets of planning, building and

securing a nuclear power plant,” says Wang.

The “Summer School on Nuclear Power Development in

China” was conceived primarily for NERS students but is open

to undergraduates campus wide. Wang can see value to stu-

dents interested in such disciplines as public policy, journal-

ism, natural resources and environmental studies. Students

will join with Chinese students from Xiamen University to

visit two to four nuclear power plant sites to observe the

construction of at least four nuclear reactors in various stages.

The tours will be followed by lectures to explain the chal-

lenges encountered in the nuclear power plant construction

including site selection and integration, political and public

resistance, environmental impact, manufacturing of huge

parts of the main reactor components and long term safe

operation and lifetime management of nuclear power plants.

When asked why China, Wang points to their incredible

growth in the last few decades. “China is growing and the

U.S. is standing still. Our students need to not assume that

the U.S. will always be the only superpower. They need to

know what’s happening in the rest of the world and know

their future competitors. U-M NERS students need to be

prepared for the global energy market and this trip is a

valuable introduction,” says Wang.

Other examples of NERS students taking advantage of U-M’s global reach: Abraham Lin, Atomic Research Facility, TaiwanMegan Brown, Hitachi-GE, JapanBrian Linn, Hitachi-GE, JapanJacob Levy, University of Salamanca, SpainDrew Johnson, Technical University of Berlin, GermanyArchis Joglkar, Institute of Nuclear Physics, Serbia

Continued from cover

The Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) with the then president of American Nuclear Society (ANS) Dr. William Burchill (center)

and Lumin Wang (second from right) in May, 2009.

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Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences

at the University of Michigan is playing

a key role in a new national initiative in

nuclear reactor modeling and simulation: the

Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light

Water Reactors (CASL). CASL, a ten-institution partnership

(http://www.casl.gov/) including the University of Michigan

(UM), was chosen in May 2010 by the Department of Energy

to develop, operate, and sustain an “Energy Innovation Hub”

focusing on modeling and

simulation for nuclear energy.

CASL is the first of three DOE

energy hubs (http://www.ne.doe.gov/AdvModelingSimulation/

energyinnovations.html) that consist of multi-disciplinary

teams to address the nation’s energy challenges. The CASL

Hub will augment existing modeling and simulation (M&S)

reactor analysis tools with advanced capabilities to create a

robust and user-friendly environment for predictive simula-

tion of light water reactors (LWRs). This M&S environment

is designated the Virtual Reactor (VR) and will be based on

state-of-the-art computational models for modeling coupled

physical phenomena in a nuclear reactor, including neutron-

ics, thermal-hydraulics, structural mechanics, and materials

performance.

The ten institutional partners in CASL include Oak Ridge

National Laboratory as the lead institution, Los Alamos

National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratory, Idaho

National Laboratory, University of Michigan, Massachusetts

Institute of Technology, North Carolina State University, West-

inghouse, Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), and the Electric

Power Research Institute (EPRI). In general, the universities

are responsible for the research that underpins the develop-

ment of advanced M&S capabilities; the national labs are

responsible for the applied research and development and

deployment of the computational tools; and the industrial

partners (Westinghouse, a nuclear reactor vendor; TVA, an

owner-operator of 4 nuclear reactors; and EPRI, the research

arm of the nuclear utility industry) will ensure that the VR is a

useful tool for “real world” design, analysis, and operation of

nuclear reactors.

Professor Bill Martin led the UM portion of the CASL

initiative that competed successfully for the $122M (over

5 years) M&S Hub. The UM’s share of the funding is about

$1.7M/year and consists of faculty, staff, and students from

four departments in the College of Engineering—NERS,

Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science and Engineer-

ing, and Aerospace Engineering. Below is a list of the NERS

faculty and their technical roles:

• Professor Tom Downar is contributing his state-of-the-

art 3D nuclear analysis code DeCART and will be leading

research efforts to further develop its capabilities for LWR

simulation;

• Professor Mike Hartman is examining the feasibility of using

university research facilities to contribute fundamental

data to assist in the UQ (uncertainty quantification)

and validation efforts for fundamental neutronics and

thermal-hydraulics

• Professor Ed Larsen is engaged in improving the axial

model for DeCART and is looking at advanced “hybrid”

methods, combining deterministic and Monte Carlo

techniques;

• Professor John Lee is examing advanced discretization

methods for time-dependent transport methods;

• Professor Bill Martin is contributing to Monte Carlo methods

development;

• Professor Gary Was is examining the effect of radiation on

materials performance in nuclear reactors.

There will also be 6-8 graduate students and two postdoc-

toral scholars from NERS involved in the project.

Bill Martin also has a major leadership role in CASL as the

Head of the Modeling and Numerical Methods (MNM) Focus

Area, one of three technical focus areas of CASL.

The College of Engineering and the UM demonstrated

their commitment to the UM CASL effort by contributing

funding and contiguous office and conference room space,

including state-of-the-art videoconference facilities.

CASL is half-way through its first year of funding and

Michigan has already contributed to the Virtual Reactor by

implementing the DeCART nuclear analysis code into the

CASL M&S environment and coupling it with a state-of-the-

art thermal-hydraulics code (Star). In the coming months,

CASL-UM faculty and students will be focusing on topics in

neutron transport, materials simulation, and uncertainty

quantification of Star, with the assistance of colleagues in the

MSE, ME, and Aerospace departments.

Um has major Role in initiative on Nuclear Reactor modeling

fEaTURESimulation of the PWR 900 pressurized water reactor core on the Jaguar supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Visualization by Tom Evans, ORNL

By Dr. William Martin

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ThankYou!faCULTY&STaffNEWS

Zhong He presented his new de-

vice, Polaris, at the International

Workshop on Room-Temperature

Semiconductor Detectors, held

in conjunction with 2010 IEEE

Nuclear Science Symposium and

Medical Imaging Conference in

Knoxville, TN. Polaris is a table

top gamma-ray detector that can not only identify the presence

of dangerous nuclear materials, but can pinpoint and show their

exact locations and type, unlike conventional detectors.

Prof. Emeritus Glenn Knoll has recently completed the 4th edition

of his textbook “Radiation Detection and Measurement” (Wiley,

2010). Earlier editions of this book (issued in 1979, 1990, and

2000) have achieved widespread

recognition as the single most

authoritative text in its field, and

have been adopted by most

academic programs in nuclear

engineering and related fields

throughout the U.S and other

parts of the world. This latest

edition includes recent developments in new detector technolo-

gies as well as updated reference data across the entire field. Knoll

was also named the Health Physics Society’s G. William Morgan

Lecturer at its 2011 Midyear Topical Meeting on Radiation

Measurements, 6–9 February 2011 in Charleston, South Carolina.

Dr. Michael Hartman, a faculty member in the Department of

Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences at the University

of Michigan, has been named as one of the first recipients of

the recently established Nuclear Forensics Junior Faculty Awards.

This program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland

Security, Domestic Nuclear

Detection Office, encourages

universities to promote, recruit,

and retain qualified personnel

to help build stronger academic

research programs that meet

U.S. Government mission needs

in the area of nuclear forensics.

Enhancing the capabilities of newly hired faculty members is a

key element in developing a successful and sustainable academic

program in nuclear forensics. As part of this award, the univer-

sity will work in collaboration with Pacific Northwest National

Laboratory to establish direct links to state-of-the-art research

in areas such as nuclear material analysis techniques and instru-

mentation. It is expected that this award will help the University

of Michigan become one of the nation’s leading academic

institutions in nuclear forensics education and research.

Professor John C. Lee, in collaboration with Professor Norman

J. McCormick of the University of Washington, has authored a

book entitled “Risk and Safety

Analysis of Nuclear Systems,”

which will be published by

John Wiley & Sons in early

2011. The 500-page book com-

bines topics in probabilistic risk

assessment and deterministic

safety analysis in a synergistic

manner, and is expected to be used both in senior and gradu-

ate level courses in nuclear engineering.

Professor Gary Was is the Walter J. Weber, Jr. Professor of Sustain-

able Energy, Environmental and Earth Systems Engineering, and

holds appointments in Nuclear

Engineering and Radiological

Sciences, and Materials Science

and Engineering at the University

of Michigan. His book, Radiation

Materials Science (2007) has

been a solid seller and a second

edition is in the offing.

Lois Vasquez, NERS accounting clerk associate, traveled to

El Salvador for 14 days in July as part of a six-credit course

sequence studying “Poverty, Human Rights and Health.”

A sophomore at Eastern Michigan University, majoring in

Professional Chemistry and Biology with a minor in Econom-

ics, Vasquez has an interest

in sustainable development

especially those brought on at

the grassroots level. The tour

was organized by the SHARE

Foundation, a non-govern-

mental organization and took

the group across the country to

explore healthcare facilities, other human rights organizations,

members of the two major political parties, the U.S. Embassy

and a Kimberly-Clark factory. Vasquez describes the experience

as her “first trip of a lifetime”.

Please visit NERS website at http://www-ners.engin.umich.edu/ for our online giving

button. Please accept the default “Use my gift where it is needed most (NERS – Nuclear

Engineering Special Fund) or choose your areas of support: NERS – Chihiro Kikuchi Scholarship Fund, John S. King

Scholarship Fund, William Kerr Scholarship Fund, or Richard K. Osborn Lectureship Fund, or Other Areas (specify).

David Chalenski joins

the research faculty as

Assistant Research Scien-

tist. He received his Ph.D.

from Cornell University

in 2010. His primary

research interest is in

the field of plasma phys-

ics and pulsed power

technology. He is currently working on the Michigan

Accelerator for Inductive Z-pinch Experiments (MAIZE)

conducting experiments on Magneto-Rayleigh Taylor

Instabilities in planar foils, and the Michigan Electron

Long Beam Accelerator (MELBA) conducting experiments

on high-power, relativistic magnetrons.

Louise Willingale joins

the research faculty

as Assistant Research

Scientist. She received

her Ph.D. from Imperial

College London in 2007.

Her primary research

interest is high-intensity

laser plasma interactions.

She is currently working on experimental campaigns,

using the Omega EP laser facility at the University of

Rochester, and investigating high-intensity laser propaga-

tion through plasmas.

Amber French returned

to NERS in November

2010. Amber originally

joined NERS in 2005

working part time while

she was attending

Washtenaw Commu-

nity College. She later

transferred to Eastern

Michigan University to finish her degree in Paralegal

Studies. NERS has grown substantially since Amber left,

both in faculty count and research dollars. Amber has

now returned to fill a full time permanent position as a

Research Accountant Associate. Welcome back Amber!

On May 28, 2010 NERS lost one of

its most respected and beloved

faculty. Professor William Kerr was

a founding member of the Depart-

ment of Nuclear Engineering in 1958, establish-

ing an outstanding curriculum and faculty in this new discipline

of nuclear science and engineering. For two decades beginning

in 1972, Professor Kerr served as a member, and often as the

Chairman, of the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards of

the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. For all his contribu-

tions to the field he received a number of awards including the

Arthur Holly Compton Award of the American Nuclear Society,

and was elected a Fellow of the American Nuclear Society and

the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Through all his activities as a dedicated teacher and national

leader in nuclear reactor safety, Professor Kerr was always a

gentleman with an abundant sense of humor and a caring heart

for his colleagues and students alike. He will be sorely missed.  

William Kerr Scholarship Fund Established

In memory of Professor William Kerr, his sons, Scott, William and John have

made a major contribution to establish the William Kerr Scholarship Fund.

Their donation will provide a challenge gift on a dollar-for-dollar basis up

to $50,000. This scholarship will support undergraduate students enrolled

full-time in the Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences Department,

based on need. Recipients may utilize the Scholarship for tuition, fees, books

and other educational expenses related to obtaining an undergraduate degree.

Contributions to this fund may be made in the attached envelope or using the

“Giving” button on the NERS website: http://www-ners.engin.umich.edu/

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A generous gift from Professor

Sidney Yip has endowed the

Richard K. Osborn Memorial

Lectureship in the Nuclear

Engineering and Radiological

Sciences Department. This lectureship will be

a fitting tribute to honor Professor Osborn’s

unwavering dedication to educating students

in fundamental science. It is expected that

these annual lectures will provide a dynamic,

living forum for inspiring future generations

of students in nuclear theory and simulation.

Professor Osborn was a faculty member in

the Nuclear Engineering department from

1957 until 1986. He was the recipient of the

1965 Western Electric Fund of the American

Society for Engineering Education and the

holder of the 1972 Goebel Chair of the

College of Engineering. Professor Osborn was

a Fellow of the American Physical Society

and the American Nuclear Society. Under the

supervision of Professor Osborn, Professor

Sidney Yip received his Ph.D. in 1963 from

the UM NE Department. The 1960s marked

an extremely productive period for collabo-

ration between Professors Osborn and Yip,

culminating in the publication of their classic

book: “The Foundations of Neutron Transport

Theory”. A kickoff event for the Osborn Lec-

tureship will be planned for spring-summer

of 2011. The NERS department looks forward

to reuniting the former students and colleagues

of Professor Osborn to recognize his devotion

to education.

Richard K. Osborn Memorial Lectureship Endowed

John Booske was selected

by his departmental faculty

and dean in 2009 to serve

as chair of the Department

of Electrical and Computer

Engineering at the University

of Wisconsin.  In 2007, John

was appointed as the Duane

H. and Dorothy M. Bluemke endowed Professor of Engineer-

ing. Most recently, he has also been appointed as inaugural

Director of a campus “center-in-progress”, the Wisconsin

Collaboratory for Enhanced Learning (WisCEL).  John was

elected to Fellow grade in the IEEE in 2007 in recognition of

his research into sources and applications of electromagnetic

fields and waves, including advances in high power vacuum

electronic microwave sources.

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

announced that Dr. Donald L. Cook has been confirmed and

sworn in as the new NNSA Deputy Administrator for Defense

Programs. Dr. Cook will

oversee the nuclear weapons

program for NNSA and will

be responsible for ensuring

that the U.S. nuclear weapons

stockpile remains safe, secure

and effective without the

need for underground testing.

Dr. Cook most recently served as managing director and

chief executive officer of the Atomic Weapons Establishment

(AWE) in the United Kingdom from 2006 to 2009. In this

capacity, he was accountable for AWE’s performance on the

contract with the UK Ministry of Defence. Dr. Cook worked at

Sandia National Laboratories for 28 years in pulsed power

sciences, microtechnologies, infrastructure and security. Dr.

Cook is a graduate of the University of Michigan (BSE ’70)

and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Fellow

of the American Association for the Advancement of Science

(AAAS) and the Institute of Physics (IOP).

Thomas Mehlhorn, (BS’74, MS’76 and Ph.D.’78) is the

Superintendent of the NRL Plasma Physics Division, and a

member of the Department of the Navy (DoN) Senior Execu-

tive Service with responsibility for a broad spectrum of re-

search programs in plasma physics, laboratory discharge and

space plasmas, intense electron and ion beams and photon

sources, atomic physics, pulsed power sources, radiation

hydrodynamics, high-power

microwaves, laser physics, ad-

vanced spectral diagnostics,

and nonlinear systems. Tom

had a distinguished career at

Sandia National Laboratories

from 1978-2009 where he

worked on and managed a

variety of projects related to pulsed power-driven fusion,

first via intense beams of electrons and ions, and later with

Z-pinches. From 2006-2009 he was a Senior Manager with

accountability for dynamic materials and shock physics, high

energy density physics theory and modeling, and advanced

radiographic source development and applications. Tom

is a member of the UM-NERS Department Advisory Board

(1996-1999), (2004-present), as well as the UM College of

Engineering Alumni Society Board of Governors (2009-present).

Dr. John E. Kelly, NERS ’76, has been appointed deputy

assistant secretary for nuclear reactor technologies in the

U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy. He

recently retired from Sandia National Laboratories after 30

years of research and devel-

opment in nuclear reactor

safety and advanced nuclear

energy technologies. In his

new position, he will be

responsible for DOE’s nuclear

reactor R&D programs, which

are addressing LWRs, HTGRs,

SFRs, SMRs, and other advanced reactor concepts. His office

also manages the advanced modeling and simulation effort

at DOE-NE. John and his wife Sue (EECS’75) are now resid-

ing in Arlington Virginia.

Steve Shannon (BSE 95, MSE 97, PhD 99) studied low

temperature plasma discharges under Professors Mary Brake

and James Holloway while at Michigan.  After graduation,

he went to work for Applied Materials Inc. in Sunnyvale CA.

As he puts it “it was a very

familiar place… I got to keep

working with RF plasmas and

at the time there were seven

or eight NERS alumni working

there, all still having night-

mares about NE572.”  While

at Applied, Steve was an

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There were two wonderful things that happened to Charlie

Schrock (BSE NE ’75 MSE ’78) at the University of Michigan:

he met his wife Liz and he discovered nuclear engineering.

“I’d always had a fascination with physics and knew that

I wanted to be an engineer but when I found out that there

was an application to make energy, that was the icing on the cake,”

says Schrock.

Schrock began his energy career in 1979 with Wisconsin Public

Service as an associate engineer. He remembers almost being passed

over for the job because they considered him over qualified because

he held an advanced degree.

“As a Nuclear Engineering student at U-M I already had reactor

experience and a demonstrated track record with operations and with

the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. They gave me a chance because I

had what they needed,” remembers Schrock.

Decades later Schrock is on the business side of making energy as

the Chairman, CEO and President of Integrys Energy Group Inc. a hold-

ing company for energy related subsidiaries including Wisconsin Public

Service Corporation.

“I love the energy industry,” says Schrock. “We produce a product

that our customers can’t live without. People live or die on it. What

could be more important than that?”

Charlie has fond memories of exceptional faculty like Dr. Lee who

spent extra time with him to make sure he understood the homework

and Dr. Duderstadt who revitalized Schrock’s commitment with his

enthusiasm and personal style.

“I remember Dr. Duderstadt telling us, after completing a problem

assignment, that, ‘all solved problems are simple. It’s the unsolved

ones that are really tough!’ It is faculty like that who draw me back

to U-M and make me happy to donate my time to the College of

Engineering,” says Schrock of his tenure on the Engineering Advisory

Council at the University of Michigan. Recently, Schrock also made a

gift to the department that will assist future U-M Nuclear Engineering

students well into the future.

On Friday, October 15, 2010 Schrock was one of a small handful of

alumni who were granted the Alumni Society Merit Award. Besides

serving on the Advisory Council, Schrock is also active in the community,

having served on many organizations over the years. He has a bent

toward education-related organizations. During his 30 years in Green

Bay, Charlie chaired the Partners-in-Education committee for a few

years, and received its prestigious Golden Apple for his service. Now in

Chicago, Charlie serves on several organizations, including After School

Matters and the Chicago Public Library Foundation.

“Education is a passion for me. If we can provide funds for pro-

gramming to open up learning opportunities for kids who otherwise

wouldn’t get a chance to experience nature and science, then we’ve

given them something that can inspire them forever. My education

at U-M opened up so many more doors for me than I ever imagined.

It’s not what you study. Education is about learning to think, solve

problems and to listen,” says Schrock.

NERS alum remembers faculty who inspired and revitalized him

Dr. Osman S. M. Ahmed

Robert and Marie Albrecht

Todd and Joanna Allen

George and Kathleen Baldwin

Raymond and Karen Berg

James D. Butt

Inan Chen, Ph.D.

Max E. Fenstermacher, Ph.D.

James Albert Fici

Dr. Ramon Garcia

Ronald and Catharine Gilgenbach

Daniel and Carol Grady

Donald and Ann Hall

William F. Hosford, Jr. TTEE

Suzanne and John Kelly

John Kerr

Scott Kerr

William Kerr

Drs. Edward and Deborah Klevans

Glenn and Gladys Knoll

John and Theresa Lee

Dr. Ellen M. Leonard

Tom and Noelle Mehlhorn

Prof. George H. Miley

Russell D. Mosteller, Ph.D.

Betty and Jack Olhoeft

Mr. Rudi S. Pakpahan

Diane and William Price

Eiping Quang, Ph.D.

Jaques and Cathy Reifman

Charles and Elizabeth Schrock

Frank Shu

Dr. and Mrs. Charles D. Striffler

Paul J. Turinsky, Ph.D.

Todd and Amy Urbatsch

Alan Szu-Hsin Wan

Sidney Yip

Public Service Electric & Gas Co.

Lockheed Martin Corporation

L-3 Communications Electron

Devices

Northrop Grumman

adjunct faculty member in the Materials Engineering depart-

ment at San Jose State University where he developed classes

in plasma processing and ion-solid interactions. This experi-

ence compelled him to try academia full time, and in 2008

he joined the Nuclear Engineering faculty at North Carolina

State University. Again, he found himself in familiar territory,

getting to continue his work in low temperature plasmas

as well as getting to dabble in some of the nanofabrication

techniques he picked up while in Silicon Valley, and once

again surrounded by a strong network of NERS alum, three

of whom are faculty in the department. Steve has been very

busy since he left UofM, travelling to over a dozen countries,

publishing papers, filing patents, and spending time with

his wife Deanne and two daughters Erin and Rowan. Cur-

rently, Steve’s group consists of six graduate students and

four undergraduate researchers. You can read more about

his current work at his group’s website, http://www4.ncsu.

edu/~scshanno.

Jim Fici (BSE ’70, MSE ’72) has retired from Westinghouse

Electric Company as Senior Vice President of global Customer

Relations & Sales after a wonderful 38 year career with the

company. During his career, he enjoyed rewarding experi-

ences in nuclear engineer-

ing, project management,

Total Quality, manufacturing,

general management, sales

and customer relations. Jim

previously held positions of

Senior Vice President, Nuclear

Fuel and Senior Vice President,

Nuclear Power Plants. In the area of Total Quality, he was

instrumental in the efforts of Westinghouse’s Commer-

cial Nuclear Fuel Division being recognized with the 1988

Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, one of the first

awards granted by the U.S. Government. In conjunction with

Professor Gary Was, Jim was instrumental in establishing the

China National Nuclear Corporation/Westinghouse Fellow-

ship Program that brought 13 Chinese engineers to Ann

Arbor to obtain their Masters Degree – Nuclear Engineering

in the NERS Department. In 1999, he was recognized with

the University of Michigan’s Engineering Alumni Society

Merit Award in Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sci-

ences. Given his long career in the commercial nuclear power

industry, Jim was pleased to be part of the “nuclear renais-

sance” by being personally and directly involved in contracts

for new Westinghouse AP1000 units in China and the U.S. In

support of the department, he served two different terms on

the NERS Advisory Board.

Paul D. Rockett (MSE ’74, PhD ’77) After spending 21 enjoy-

able and productive years at Sandia National Laboratories, he

retired in October 2010 and immediately moved across the

street to begin full-time work at Lawrence Livermore National

Laboratory (LLNL).   In his new position he supports technical

and policy developments in areas of nuclear nonprolifera-

tion and arms control, an important field he has grown to

care for deeply.  He is one of the few DOE/NNSA scientists,

who have now worked at all three NNSA laboratories.  He

spent four years at Los Alamos

National Lab working on Laser

Fusion, while his Sandia career

spanned Particle Beam Fusion

to Magnetic Fusion to Extreme

Ultraviolet Lithography and

to Nuclear Nonproliferation/

Arms Control.  Outside of his

neglecting to take Glenn Knoll’s Nuclear Measurements class,

the U-M NE Dept. prepared him well to contribute to this

diverse array of fields.  “When language you write appears

in international treaty documents, you know you’ve had an

impact.  Thank you NE Dept!” says Rockett.

aLUmNiPROfiLEaLUmNiNEWS

“We produce a product that our customers can’t live without. People live or die on it. What could be more important than that?”

Schrock and his wife Liz at the Alumni Society Merit Awards ceremony

NERS Donors

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Career Fair 2010

One of the reasons that students choose U-M’s Nuclear Engineering

and Radiological Sciences department is because of the contacts in

the industry they will get. Each year NERS hosts a Career Fair that

introduces companies and agencies to qualified students about to

enter the workforce.

Jeremy McGrew (BSE ‘03), senior engineer at Westinghouse, enjoys coming

back to campus for the annual Career Fair for several reasons.

“It’s exciting to speak with former professors on a different level and have the

ability to keep them updated on current industry changes and innovations. Sitting

on the other side of the interview table is rewarding, especially when I am able to

pass along my experiences and provide advice to those students going through

the same thing that I did a few years back. Overall though, the greatest reward

for me is finding that special candidate who is an excellent fit for our company.

I’m proud that we have found quite a few of those at the University of Michigan.

And one more reason I like coming back for the career fairs…Blimpy Burgers!”

Scholarships

Kikuchi Scholarship (sophomore award) — for AY 10-11Alex RobinsonEric Welch Kucher Scholarship Award (2nd Year Merit Award) — for AY 10-11Derek LaxSean O’NealAlexandra Niska BurjaJason von EhrDrew JohnsonDaniel Chudnow John S. King Scholarship — for AY 10-11Edward Harvey NEUP Scholarship Award — AY 10-11Marc BecchettiTimothy BurkeSean CarneyLee GundersonGeoffrey GunowMatthew MarcathSean O’NealPatricia SchusterRobert Steinbock National American Nuclear Society Under-graduate Scholarships — for AY 10-11Alexandra Niska BurjaTimothy BurkeLee GundersonPatricia SchusterRobert Steinbock National Academy for Nuclear Training (NANT) — for AY 10-11Justin BallNavneet Gill Outstanding Undergraduate (NERS) 2010: Andrew TillOutstanding Undergraduate (Eng Physics) 2010: Aaron RoccaDistinguished Leadership Award 2010: Maggie HwangCooley Writing Prize (Essay Division) 2010:Andrew PattonNew Achievement Award (MEPO) 2010: Jejuan Toney

Visiting companies included:

Bechtel National

DTE Energy

Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy, LTD.

Idaho National Laboratory

Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory

Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

USEC, Inc.

Westinghouse

Scott AmbersMargaret Bacon*Eric Baker*Benjamin Betzler*Yvan Boucher*Edward Cruz*Carlos Di Stefano*John-Michael FischerTyler Fowler-GuzzardoMatthew Franzi*Danilo GrossoHiruy HadguDouglas HakeCeris Hamilton

John HayesEfrain Hernandez-Rivera*Adam Hoffman*Jiayu Hou*Aimee Hubble*Sonal Joshi*Blake Kelley*Brian Kitchen*James Laird IIJustin LamyWeixing Li*Ben MaestasRobert McGeeEric Miller*

Maria Morell GonzalezEric OlifiersScott PfefferIan Rittersdorf*William Schumaker*Piotr StarakiewiczKaylie ThompsonScott WagnerWilliam Walsh IIIJonathan Wierschke*Tomasz ZakOwen Zinaman

*Continuing for PhD

PhD Graduates 2009-2010listed with Thesis Titles and Advisors

2009-2010 CoE Graduate Student AwardsDistinguished Achievement Matthew GomezDistinguished Leadership William Kaye and Efrain Hernandez-RiveraTom S. Rice Tau Beta Pi Award Yvan BoucherMarian Sarah Parker Prize Jennifer Dolan

2010 Nuclear Engineering Graduate Student InternshipsChris Perfetti ORNLDavid French Air Force National LabAnne Campbell ORNLAdam Hoffman Argonne National LabDavid Simon L-3 CommunicationsDoug Fynan Idaho National LabEric Gillman NASA Glen Research CenterJohn Hayes Centro Atomico BarilocheEric Baker LANLTravis Trahan Argonne National Lab

Master ’s Students 2009-2010

Kaushik Banerjee Kernel Density Estimator Methods for Monte Carlo Radiation Transport William R. Martin

Troy Becker Hybrid Monte Carlo/Determin-istic Methods for Radiation Shielding Problems Edward W. Larsen

Jesse Cheatham Truncation Analysis and Numeri-cal Method Improvements for the Thermal Radiative Transfer Equations James P. Holloway

Jeremy Conlin Explicitly Restarted Arnoldi’s Method for Monte Carlo Nuclear Criticality Calculations James P. Holloway

Gregory Davidson Time-Dependent Radiation Transport Using the Staggered-Block Jacobi MethodEdward W. Larsen

Hao Jiang Improvement of Ion-Beam Energy Resolution in a Solenoid-based Radioactive Nuclear Beam Facility.Kimberlee Kearfott/Fred Becchetti

Alejandro Perez-Bergquest Ion Irradiation-Induced Porous Structures in Amorphous Semi-conductors Lumin Wang

Elaine West Influence of Local Stresses and Strain Incompatibilities on Intergranular Cracking of 316L Stainless Steel in Supercritical Water Gary S. Was

Haori Yang Active Interrogation Methods for Detection of Special Nuclear Material David K Wehe

STUdENTNEWS aWaRdS&SChOLaRhiPS

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Last spring 16 7th and 8th graders from Detroit entered the Cooley Nuclear Engineer-

ing building on the U-M campus with a touch of anxiety. The term “nuclear” conjured

up thoughts of radiation, cancer, and accidents. But after five Saturdays of hands-on

activities, experiments and in-class instruction, the students left with a basic under-

standing and respect for the field. Are these all future nuclear engineers? Maybe.

The Detroit Area Pre-College Engineering Program (DAPCEP) is an extra-curricular program

and has a mission to increase the number of historically underrepresented youth who are moti-

vated and prepared academically to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math

related fields. These students are chosen through an application process that looks at interest in

math and engineering, grade point average and all around good citizenship.

“I was always interested in math and science and DAPCEP seemed like something interesting

to do with my Saturdays,” says Syreeta Cheatom who participated in DAPCEP in 1990 when she

was a high school student at Cass Tech in Detroit. Cheatom got the nuclear engineering bug at

the U-M and graduated with a degree from NERS in 1995. She is currently taking a sabbatical

from her job in the nuclear industry. But she comes back to campus as a DAPCEP alumni and

talks to the students about her experiences.

“The students can relate to me because I grew up in Detroit and I’m from the same place

they are. This program is great because it plants a seed in their minds about engineering and

makes it less scary. The most important thing it does is to make the middle school students

think seriously about going to college,” says Cheatom.

The instructors and volunteers with the NERS portion of DAPCEP made topics such as nuclear

structure, nuclear power production, plasma physics, and nuclear waste management fun!

“We did a lot of demonstrations such as spinning in a chair and bringing your arms in and

out to demonstrate centripetal forces, watched videos on various nuclear reactor topics, learned

about detectors and used a Geiger counter to look at everyday objects with high levels of

radiation like bananas, and also had straight forward discussions and “lectures” to learn about

the basics of nuclear engineering,” says Patricia Schuster, a NERS undergraduate student and

DAPCEP student organizer.

So will these students all come to the U-M and study nuclear engineering? “Working with

these bright kids is really motivating for me,” says Schuster. “They may not all end up in an engi-

neering program but after the session was done one female student told me that this is exactly

what she wants to do. That’s how I know that DAPCEP is working.”

Program GoalsStudents who take part in the program should possess a

better understanding of nuclear engineering and radia-

tion. Participants will also gain knowledge of the college

of engineering and the wider engineering discipline.

2010 Program Overview The NERS department participated in the Detroit Area

Pre-College Engineering Program (DAPCEP) Spring

Program and hosted 14 middle school students from

the Detroit and Ypsilanti school districts for five weekend

sessions. The students participated in activities that

taught basic physics and radioactive decay, and learned

about the different branches of the nuclear industry.

The group also took a trip to the Ann Arbor Hands-On

Museum where the students got to experience many

different areas of science and engineering. The students

concluded their experience by designing their own

poster and presentation for the Parents Expo, which got

the audience involved in a radioactive decay activity.

Thanks to the NERS department for sponsoring this

awesome program!

ScheduleThe program is held 5 Saturdays from 9:00am–1:30pm

in the spring of every year.

EligibilityAll 7th and 8th grade DAPCEP students interested in

Nuclear Engineering may apply for the program.

Selection Criteria Within the applicant pool, 15 students will be chosen

to participate in the program based on the following

criteria:

• Interest in nuclear engineering & science

• Grade point average

• Math, science, and computing abilities

• Intention to pursue college education in math

and science

Program OutlineStudents will learn about nuclear engineering through

in-class instruction, hands-on demonstrations, and

tours of state-of-the-art research facilities.

Topics will include Fundamental Mathematical Tools

Nuclear Structure

History of Nuclear Science

Natural Sources of Radiation

Radioactive Decay

Nuclear Power Production

Radiation Detection & Imaging

Nuclear Fusion Research

Plasma Physics & Applications

Nuclear Waste Management

Nuclear Analysis Techniques

The 2010 ANS Student Conference,

hosted April 8–11 by the U-M

Student Section of the Eagle Crest

Conference Center, in Ypsilanti,

Michigan, welcomed 665 attend-

ees, the largest number in the history of the

student conference.

“The conference’s size is a pretty good lead-

ing indicator of overall industry health,” said

Darby Kimball, ANS Student Sections Commit-

tee chair, attributing the conference’s success

to the leadership of Michaela Eddy and Travis

Trahan, cochairs of the conference.

In keeping with the theme, “Coming

Together to Split the Atom,” a special public

forum brought together nearly 400 conference

attendees and community members for a

town-hall discussion with a panel of experts

on nuclear energy. Other highlights of the

conference were 157 student presentations on

subjects ranging from nuclear policy to medical

isotropes, six workshops, three panel discussions,

tours, and a career fair. There was even time for

some well-deserved social activities such as a

golf tournament, and an awards banquet held

aboard the Detroit Princess Riverboat.

“Students of all class standings, faculty

and staff all pulled together to create the most

professional ANS Student Conference to-date.

With all the time that we spent together, and

the challenges we worked through, we really

learned the value of calling the NERS depart-

ment our own,” says Eddy.

Student Profiles Patricia Schuster is in her senior year and is busy applying to various PhD programs around the

country. Patricia received two prestigious scholar-ships this year, one from the NEUP and American Nuclear Society Undergradu-ate Scholarship. She has also shown

great leadership skills as the student organizer for the DAPCEP program (see page 15). To Patricia it seemed almost pre-ordained that she would end up in nuclear engineering. “When I was in 8th grade my class took a career path test. Everyone else got multiple results. I got one; toxic waste disposal engineer. I was a little disappointed that it was so narrow, but it makes sense considering my favorite class was applied physics!”

Aimee Hubble (BSE 04) is busy working on her Ph.D. in Plasma Physics, with a thesis on electronic propulsion and hopes to soon be working in a

national lab or for NASA. Her dreams are close to becom-ing a reality thanks to two prestigious fellowships: one from the National Science Foundation and one from the

American Society for Engineering Education. “U-M has not only given me the confidence to apply and receive these fellowships but offers me the connections that I need to land the jobs that I want,” says Hubble.

U-M ANS student chapter sets attendance record for conference

REaChiNgOUT

DAPCEP (Detroit Area Pre-College Program)

STUdENTNEWS

This article is adapted in part, with permission, from the ANS Student Conference write up that appeared in the May/June 2010

issue of ANS News, which is published by the American Nuclear Society.

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programs and services without regard to

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or handicap.

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1U-M students explore China’s new nuclear frontier

2Letter from the Chair

4UM Leads Major Initiative on Nuclear Reactor Modeling

6Faculty & Staff News

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12Student News

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