News

Graduate student Nick Kaitschuck makes a poster presentation of research work done with Dr. Landsberger on the optimization of rare-earth elements characterization at the Modern Trends in Activation Analysis conference in Budapest, Hungary May 6-10. Nick also gave an oral presentation on the use of Compton suppression in preparation of cellulose reference materials. 

Justine Davidson who received her PhD in spring 2024 has been given a Citation to accompany the Award of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service. Justine is an employee of Los Alamos National Laboratory and spent several in Washington DC was recognized for exceptional public service as Senior Scientific Advisor to the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Matters, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, from April 2021-April 2024.

For the first time, new Assistant Professor Dr. Elena Zannoni  taught the M E 397 Radiological Imaging and Instrumentation course in the 2024 spring semester in the Nuclear and Radiation Engineering Program. The course gives an overview of modern imaging techniques and instrumentation in three segments:  physical and mathematical foundations, transmission imaging and emission imaging.

Christopher Martin wins second place at the State of Texas Chapter of the Health Physics Society meeting on April 20, 2024, at Texas A&M in College Station. Christopher’s presentation was Rapid, High Accuracy and Precision Analysis of Uranium Content in Texas Ore using self-attenuation gamma-ray spectroscopy. This work is sponsored by Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Nuclear Material Support Services (NPI-9).

Dr. Landsberger gave a series of five invited lectures in the Department of Physics at the University of Novi Sad, Serbia during the week of April 15, 2024. The series was entitled Nuclear Physics, Nuclear Science and Nuclear Engineering. Lecture topics included neutron activation analysis, pop-culture goes nuclear, radioactivity in the oil exploration sector, low-level gamma ray counting, development of experiments in health physics to reinforce basic radiation protection concepts, and coincidence and anti-coincidence gamma ray spectroscopy in radionuclide identification. The Department of Physics has very advanced techniques in coincidence gamma-ray spectroscopy. Further educational and research collaboration was discussed.

The Nuclear and Radiation Engineering Program and Nuclear and Applied Robotics Group supported four of the ten projects for the Freshman Introduction to Research Engineering Course ME 177K.  This course is designed to introduce research skills to first year students in their first or second semesters. Second and third prizes of $300 and $200 were awarded to Robotics and Compton Camera: Autonomous Radiation Detection and Robotic Additive Manufacturing, respectively.

As part of UT Energy Week, the first ever Texas Nuclear Symposium organized by Derek Haas and Kevin Clarno was held from March 25-26. Presentations on the Nuclear and Radiation Engineering’s Molten Salt Reactor and Digital Twin Reactors were given by faculty and staff members. Graduate students had the opportunities to make presentation of their work on the above topics. Reed Clay President of the Texas Nuclear Alliance gave an overview of the inclusion of nuclear energy in the electricity production in Texas. In the main UT Energy Week conference there were presentations by Sunil Felix from Nuclear Counsellor, French Atomic Commission – US Embassy (Washington, DC), Jimmy Glotfelty Commissioner, Public Utility Commission of Texas and Dale Klein Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin and Former Commissioner of Nuclear Regulatory Commission joined a panel to discuss "A Nuclear Carol: The Future of Nuclear via the Past & Present Perspectives of France, U.S., and Texas”

The invitation to serve on national and international review panels is significant to our program in terms of exposure to our faculty’s individual areas of expertise. In Fall 2023, Sheldon Landsberger served on the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Engineering University Program (NEUP) General Scientific Infrastructure Review Panel, as Chair of the European Partnership for Research in Radiation Protection and Detection of Ionizing Radiation including nuclear medicine, review panel and was invited to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Consultancy Meeting for the Disposal of Irradiated Graphite Waste from nuclear power plants.

Dr. Charlton presents a certificate of achievement to Lieutenant JunHyeon Jang from the Republic of Korea Navy for his three-month practicum in nuclear engineering. Lt. Jang who was sponsored by the ROK Navy, studied basic and advanced concepts in nuclear engineering, health physics, and participated in research reactor experiments. 

Dr. David Dodoo-Amoo donates $1000 for an undergraduate scholarship. David who graduated in 2002 from the NRE program is currently employed at Landauer radiation instrumentation as a medical physicist.