NE Assistant Professor, Janelle Wharry recently received the Young Leaders Professional Development Award from The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS). This award provides an opportunity for young, professional members of TMS to advance in the field of materials science through participation in activities.

Anna Biela has a hard time remembering exactly when she became hooked on nuclear science. "From a very young age, I just knew about nuclear and how important it was," she said. Anna is on the verge of graduating from Purdue University with a degree in nuclear engineering. She has plans to go to grad school to further her research on reactor core physics.

Her goal is to develop advanced reactors—an area and a career path she is very passionate about.

A former graduate student in the School of Nuclear Engineering at Purdue University was recently recognized in the energy sector of the Forbes 30 Under 30 list.

At age 25, Ian Hamilton is the CEO of his own startup company, Atlas Energy Systems, where he’s working to commercialize a long-lasting radioisotope battery, powered by spent nuclear fuel.

The School of Nuclear Engineering’s Account Assistant, Jill Clauson was selected as a finalist for the 2017 Customer Service Award in this year's College of Engineering Staff Awards of Excellence.

With its rich history in engineering, Assistant Professor Janelle Wharry joined the Purdue University School of Nuclear Engineering in July 2016 and has been advancing the comprehension of how irradiation affects mechanical performance of materials, especially nuclear reactor structural materials. She and her students are conquering these issues by starting at the atomic building block level, trying to understand how individual atoms can influence the mechanical phenomena in the bulk of an entire nuclear plant component.

Seungjin Kim, the Capt. James F. McCarthy Jr. & Cheryl E. McCarthy Head of the School of Nuclear Engineering, has been elected to American Nuclear Society Fellow Grade, the highest membership grade of the ANS. The society has a membership of around 11,000 professionals.

Purdue Nuclear Engineering graduate student, Amanda Loveless was recently announced as the recipient of the Igor Alexeff Outstanding Student in Plasma Science Award. The $1,000 award is funded by the IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society and was presented at the IEEE International Conference on Plasma Science.

Congratulations to Purdue Nuclear Engineering undergraduate student Catalin Harabagiu who recently received two scholarships from the American Nuclear Society (ANS) totaling $7,000. He received both the ANS Hans P. Loewen Memorial Undergraduate Scholarship and the John and Muriel Landis Scholarship.

Purdue University is known for having many "firsts". From the first man on the moon to the first and only nuclear reactor operating in Indiana. Purdue's Reactor Number One (PUR-1), first installed in 1962, is still just as important and useful now as it was back then, but will now become more innovative.

In August this year, a License Amendment Request to upgrade PUR-1's instrumentation and controls to be fully digitized was been accepted by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

In August, the Purdue University Board of Trustees approved the named headship for the School of Nuclear Engineering. A generous gift from Capt. James F. McCarthy, Jr. and Cheryl E. McCarthy has created the named headship.

Capt. James F. McCarthy, Jr. graduated from Purdue University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Nuclear Engineering in 1979, which created his foundation for a successful career in the United States Navy.