11/6/2009 Nitin Lakshman Rao
Written by Nitin Lakshman Rao
Nuclear engineering jobs are plentiful NPRE students were assured recently by a panel of alumni and department friends who are working in the field. Fifteen visitors came to campus during Homecoming Friday, October 9, to tell students about careers in nuclear engineering.
Representing their employers, the visitors met individually with small groups of students throughout the day. The visitors then joined together to give presentations in two panels: one, composed of representatives from Exelon Corporation, Sargent & LundyLLC and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the other, of Argonne, Brookhaven, Idaho, Oak Ridge and Sandia national labs, as well as locally-operated Starfire IndustriesLLC, specializing in innovative plasma engineering.
Becky Meline, NPRE Student Affairs Coordinator said of the event, “Our student numbers are growing, which would seem to reflect the increased acceptance of nuclear power and the diversification of the NPRE program to cover the plasma/fusion and radiological/medical areas. Our students are very excited about connecting with alumni to learn about current research and internship and permanent career opportunities. We wanted to bring in both recent alumni who are closer in years to the experiences of the students, and more established alumni who, with longer work history, can provide a broader prospective. It was great to see all the interaction among the students, alumni, and faculty. I think it was a very well-received event that will definitely be held again.”
Companies and organizations wanting to participate in future events of this kind should contact Becky Meline at bmeline@illinois.edu.
Alumnus Michael R. James, BS 89, MS 93, PhD 97, a nuclear engineer working at Los Alamos National Laboratory, did not serve on the panels, but was visiting campus during Homecoming and met with several students interested in working at that lab. Those visitors who did participate on the panels were:
Exelon Corporation:
— Gabriel Chavez, BS 07 NPRE, Qualified Nuclear Engineer, Dresden Generating Station
— Sarfraz M. Taj, BS 05, Project Manager, Corporate Project Nuclear Management Group, Cantera Headquarters
Nuclear Regulatory Commission:
— Jason D. Draper, BS 07 NPRE, Reactor Engineer in the Division of Reactor Projects in the NRC Region III office in Lisle, Illinois.
— Jennifer M. Gall, BS 08 NPRE, General Engineer, Nuclear Safety and Professional Development Program, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, Department of Operating Reactor Licensing
— Kenneth R. Riemer, BS 84, Branch Chief, Division of Reactor Projects, NRC Region III
Sargent & LundyLLC:
— Mirko Ascic, BS 05 EE, BS 05 NPRE, MS 06 NPRE, Associate, Nuclear Technology and Regulations Group
— Kristin C. Geiger, BS 07 NPRE, Associate, Mechanical Engineering Group
Argonne National Laboratory:
— Mitchell T. Farmer, PhD 88 NPRE, Nuclear Engineer, Section Manager, Engineering Development Laboratories, Nuclear Engineering Division
Brookhaven National Laboratory:
— William C. Horak, BS 72 AE, MS 73 NPRE, PhD 80 NPRE, Chair, Energy Sciences and Technology Department
Idaho National Laboratory:
— Maria A. Okuniewski, MS 04 NPRE, PhD 08 NPRE, Research and Development Scientist and Engineer Basic Fuel Properties and Modeling Division
Oak Ridge National Laboratory:
— Jeffrey L. Binder, BS 85 NPRE, MS 87 NPRE, PhD 91 NPRE,
Program Manager, Isotope Production
Sandia National Laboratory: 5:00 p.m., Presentation and Q&A
— Paul S. Pickard, former NPRE faculty member, Technical
Director, U.S. DOE Generation IV Energy Conversion Program
— Jason P. Petti, BS 98 CE, MS 00 CE, PhD 04 CE, Senior Member
Technical Staff, Structural Integrity and Licensing Support,
Nuclear Safety Energy Technologies
Starfire IndustriesLLC: 5:15 p.m., Presentation and Q&A
— Brian E. Jurczyk, BS 95 AE, MS 97 NPRE, MBA 00 Technology
Commercialization, PhD 01 NPRE, President, Starfire IndustriesLLC
Contact: Susan Mumm editor/alumni affairs coordinator, Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering, 217/244-5382 (campus office), 217/821-6866 (cell) 217/347-2166 (home office).