Congratulations to NPRE alumni P.K. Doshi and Kenneth L. Peddicord, winners of the 2011 and 2012 NPRE Distinguished Alumni Awards, respectively.
Doshi, BS 61, Physics, University of Rangoon, Burma, MS 63, NPRE, PhD 68, NPRE, is Director of International Business Development for EXCEL Services Corporation in Rockville, Maryland. He has over 43 years of experience in various facets of both the domestic and international nuclear industry. His technology experience includes fuel and core design and performance, safety analysis, licensing, quality assurance, spent fuel management, criticality evaluation, instrumentation and control, and hardware and software management. Doshi is well-versed in the design and performance of light water reactor technology.
Prior to joining EXCEL, Doshi was at SCIENTECH, responsible for developing new market sectors including Department of Energy (DOE) and Department of Defense (DOD). He was also responsible for managing Canadian Nuclear Utility Services – a new joint venture company SCIENTECH and CANATOM formed.
From 1972 to 1998, Doshi had a 25-year career at Westinghouse Electric. As Manager, Core Engineering, he was responsible for the core design of more than 40 nuclear power plants in the U.S. and overseas. He led the development of advanced fuel assemblies not only for the Westinghouse designed plants but also for SIEMENS, ABB-CE and GE designed plants. In 1988, he was a member of the management team responsible for the application and defense of Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Westinghouse Fuel Division was the recipient of the first award in the nation.
From 1993 to 1997, Doshi was the Project Manager for completing the half-finished Russian-designed 1000MW VVER-Temelin Nuclear Power Plant in the Czech Republic. There, he was responsible for the design, delivery, and installation of the first fully integrated digital instrumentation and control system, advanced control room, and fuel, core design, safety analysis and licensing. This was the first VVER plant in which western technology was grafted on the Russian designed plant. The project was challenging as it involved reverse engineering the Russian plant design because of a lack of qualified Russian design information necessary for the design of instrumentation and control system, as well as designing hexagonal fuel assembly. The plant was successfully completed and it currently supplies more than 16 percent of electricity in the Czech Republic.
Doshi has participated in numerous International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) missions involving safety analysis, core design, licensing, and design basis documentation and configuration management. In September 2011, Doshi participated in an IAEA sponsored mission to Kazakhstan, where he was involved in inspecting and qualifying sites suitable for storing uranium for the International Fuel Bank.
Throughout his career, Doshi has acquired 10 U.S. patents.
Peddicord, BS 65, Mechanical Engineering, University of Notre Dame, MS 66 NPRE, PhD 72 NPRE, is Director of the Nuclear Power Institute (NPI) and Professor of Nuclear Engineering at Texas A&M University.
From 1972 to 1975, he was employed as a Research Nuclear Engineer at the Eidgenössisches Institut für Reaktorforschung (the Swiss Federal Institute for Reactor Research), now the Paul Scherrer Institut, in Würenlingen, Switzerland.
From 1975 to 1981, Peddicord was Assistant Professor and Associate Professor of Nuclear Engineering at Oregon State University. From 1981 to 1982, he served as a Visiting Scientist at the EURATOM Joint Research Centre in Ispra, Italy.
In 1983, he joined the faculty of Texas A&M University as professor of nuclear engineering. At Texas A&M, he has served as Head of the Department of Nuclear Engineering, Associate Dean and Interim Dean of the College of Engineering, Assistant Director and Director of the Texas Engineering Experiment Station, Associate Vice Chancellor and Vice Chancellor of The Texas A&M University System for Research and Federal Relations.
Since 2007, he has been the Director of the Nuclear Power Institute. NPI was established by the Board of Regents of The Texas A&M University System as a joint institute between the Texas Engineering Experiment Station and Texas A&M University. NPI is a partnership involving six community colleges, five universities, industry, high schools and junior high schools, teachers and students, elected and civic leaders, and state and federal agencies. The focus is to inform, attract and prepare students for all facets of the technical workforce for the nuclear industry.
Peddicord has published over 200 articles, papers and reports. His technical interests include nuclear engineering education, human resources and nuclear workforce development and advanced nuclear fuels. He is a Professional Engineer licensed in the State of Texas.