Nuclear Engineering

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https://ne.utk.edu/

J. Wesley Hines, Head

Professors
Hall, H.L., PhD – California (Berkeley)
Hayward, J.P. (UCOR Fellow), PhD – Michigan
Heilbronn, L.H., PhD – Michigan State
Hines, J.W. (Chancellor’s Professor and Postelle Fellow), MBA, PhD – Ohio State
Maldonado, G.I., PhD – North Carolina State
Wirth, B.D. (Governor’s Chair Professor), PhD – California (Santa Barbara)
Wood, R., PhD – Tennessee
Zinkle, S. (Governor’s Chair Professor), PhD – Wisconsin

Associate Professors
Brown, N., PhD – Purdue University
Coble, J.B., PhD – Tennessee
Donovan, D., PhD – Wisconsin
Lang, M.K., PhD – University of Heidelberg (Germany)
Lukosi, E., PhD – Missouri (Columbia)
Pevey, R.E., PhD, PE – Tennessee

Assistant Professor
Sobes, V., PhD – MIT

Emeriti Faculty
Dodds, H.L., PhD, PE – Tennessee
Groer, P.G., PhD – Vienna (Austria)
Kerlin, T.W., PhD – Tennessee
Miller, L.F., PhD, PE – Texas A and M
Townsend, L.W., PhD – Idaho
Upadhyaya, B.R., PhD, PE – California (San Diego)

Research Professors
Fontana, M.H., PhD, PE – Purdue
Ganapol, B.D., PhD – California (Berkeley)
Grossbeck, M.L. (Research), PhD – Illinois
Lillie, R.A., PhD – Tennessee
Melcher, C., PhD – California Institute of Technology
Mihalczo, J.T. (Research), PhD – Tennessee
Miller, J., PhD – California
Mynatt, F.R., PhD – Tennessee
Ruggles, A.E., PhD – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Research Associate Professors
Gribok, A.V., PhD – IPPE (Russia)
Valentine, T., PhD – Tennessee

Research Assistant Professors
Auxier, J., PhD – Tennessee
Chvala, O., PhD – Prague, Czech Republic
Moussa, H., PhD – Tennessee
Stephan, A., PhD – Tennessee
Terrani, K., PhD – California (Berkeley)

Professor of Practice
Lagdon, C., – George Washington University

Joint Faculty
Katoh, Y., PhD – University of Tokyo (Japan)
Skutnik, S.E., PhD – North Carolina State
Stowe, A., PhD – Florida State

Adjunct Faculty
Dr. Brian Anderson, Adjunct Associate Professor
Dr. Peter Angelo, Lecturer
Dr. Andrei I. Apostoaei, Adjunct Assistant Professor
Dr. Steven Arndt, Adjunct Professor
Dr. Birsen Ayaz-Maierhafer, Adjunct Assistant Professor
Dr. Douglas Bowen, Lecturer
Dr. Joseph Bowling, Adjunct Assistant Professor
Dr. David H. Cook, Adjunct Associate Professor
Dr. Philip Edmondson, Adjunct Associate Professor
Mr. Dyrk Greenhalgh, Lecturer
Dr. Mark Harrison, Adjunct Assistant Professor
Dr. Thomas Harrison, Adjunct Assistant Professor
Dr. Hash Hashemian, Adjunct Professor
Mr. Christopher Haught, Lecturer
Dr. Samantha Hedrick, Adjunct Assistant Professor
Dr. David Hoelzer, Research Associate Professor
Dr. David E. Holcomb, Adjunct Assistant Professor
Dr. Erik B. Iverson, Adjunct Associate Professor
Dr. Jose March-Leuba, Adjunct Associate Professor
Dr. Gloria Mei, Adjunct Associate Professor
Dr. Charles Melcher, Adjunct Research Professor
Dr. Trent Nichols, Adjunct Assistant Professor
Dr. Chet Ramsey, Adjunct Assistant Professor
Dr. Brandon P. Rasmussen, Adjunct Assistant Professor
Mr. Christopher Robinson, Lecturer
Dr. Matthew Reinke, Adjunct Assistant Professor
Dr. Vladimir Sobes, Lecturer
Dr. Richard G. Taylor, Lecturer
Dr. Joseph Thie, Adjunct Professor
Dr. Aleksey H. Urmanov, Adjunct Assistant Professor
Dr. Colin West, Adjunct Professor

Nuclear engineering is the engineering discipline that focuses on the application of nuclear and atomic processes for the benefit of mankind and the environment. Radiological engineering is a specialty of nuclear engineering that addresses biological applications such as radiation safety (health physics). Some examples of nuclear and radiological engineering are production of electric power with essentially no air pollution, production of radioisotopes for medical and industrial uses, and development of radiation based methods for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

The mission of the Nuclear Engineering Department is to

• Produce high quality nuclear and radiological engineering graduates from undergraduate through the doctoral level in order to help meet the manpower needs of our state, region, nation, and the international community.
• Conduct nuclear and radiological engineering related research to help meet the needs of society.
• Perform service for industry, government, professional organizations, and the public in areas related to nuclear and radiological engineering.

The program for the Bachelor of Science in Nuclear Engineering is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, http://www.abet.org. Program educational objectives (PEOs) are broad statements that describe what graduates are expected to attain within a few years of graduation. The PEOs of the Bachelor of Science program are the following

• Graduates who enter professional practice will demonstrate progression toward positions of technical responsibility or leadership in their discipline.
• Graduates who pursue full-time graduate or advanced professional study will progress and successfully complete their programs of study in their discipline.
• Graduates will continue professional development practices that enable them to remain competent in the ever expanding discipline of nuclear engineering.

Students majoring in nuclear engineering take courses in the basic sciences, engineering fundamentals, mathematics, computer science, humanities, and special areas of nuclear engineering including nuclear system design and safety; radiation transport and shielding; heat transfer and fluid flow; instrumentation and controls; fuel cycle and waste management; and health physics. Nuclear engineering students may concentrate in radiological engineering by substitution of two courses. The radiological engineering concentration also satisfies most of the requirements of pre-med, pre-vet, and pre-dentistry programs.

uTrack Requirements

Universal Tracking (uTrack) is an academic monitoring system designed to help students stay on track for timely graduation. In order to remain on track, students must complete the minimum requirements for each tracking semester, known as milestones. Milestones include successful completion of specified courses and/or attainment of a minimum GPA. uTrack requirements only affect full-time, degree-seeking students who first entered Fall 2013 or later. uTrack does not apply to transfer students who entered prior to Fall 2015.

PROGRESSION POLICIES AND REQUIREMENTS

Progression

The first two years of the curriculum are considered to be lower-division and the two remaining years upper-division. Students must apply for progression to departmental upper-division courses, which depends on academic performance. Factors considered include overall grade point average, performance in selected lower-division courses and evidence of orderly progression through the prescribed curriculum.

Full Status

A lower-division student may apply for progression to upper-division after completing CHEM 120 * or CHEM 128 *, CHEM 130 * or CHEM 138 *; MATH 132 * or MATH 141 * or MATH 147 *, MATH 142 * or MATH 148 *, MATH 231  or MATH 237 ; EF 151 * or EF 157 *, EF 152 * or EF 158 *; and PHYS 231 *, with a grade of C or better in each, and an overall GPA of at least 2.5.

Provisional Status

Students who have completed CHEM 120 * or CHEM 128 *, CHEM 130 * or CHEM 138 *; MATH 132 * or MATH 141 * or MATH 147 *, MATH 142 * or MATH 148 *, MATH 231  or MATH 237 ; EF 151 * or EF 157 *, EF 152 * or EF 158 *, and PHYS 231 * with a grade of C or better and have an overall GPA between 2.0 and 2.5 may apply for provisional status. The granting of provisional status is based on the availability of space in departmental programs after full status students have been accommodated. Provisional status students are required to demonstrate their ability to perform satisfactorily in upper-division by attaining a minimum GPA of 2.5 in the first 9 hours of 300-level required nuclear engineering courses. Award of upper-division full status is dependent upon this performance. Students who have not progressed to upper-division will be dropped from departmental courses.

Nuclear Engineering Graduation Requirements

Students are strongly recommended to meet with their advisor every semester. Students are required to maintain a cumulative grade point of at least 2.0 in all nuclear engineering courses taken at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, used to satisfy the graduation requirements. No more than four credit hours of nuclear engineering courses in which a C- or lower is the highest grade earned may be counted toward graduation. This is in addition to the university’s graduation requirements.

Five-Year BS/MS Program

The department offers a Five-Year BS-MS program with a BS (major in nuclear engineering) and an MS (major in nuclear engineering) for qualified students. The primary component of the program is that qualified students may take up to 6 hours of approved graduate courses for their senior undergraduate electives and have them count toward both their bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Tennessee. This program is designed for students attending the University of Tennessee for their Master of Science degree because other universities may not accept these courses for graduate credit since they were used to satisfy requirements for the Bachelor of Science degree. Significant components of the program are:

• Students must have an overall GPA of 3.4 in required coursework. Conditional admission to the five-year program may be granted after completion of 63 hours of required coursework, while full admission may be granted after the completion of 93 hours of required coursework with a minimum overall GPA of 3.4.

• Students must at least be conditionally admitted to the program prior to taking graduate courses for both their bachelor’s and master’s degrees. All courses taken for graduate credit must be approved by the director of graduate studies. Students admitted to the program must request permission from the Graduate School to take approved courses for graduate credit.

• Students admitted to the program must also follow the normal procedure for admission to the Graduate School. Admission of students into this program must be approved by the department and the Graduate School. Students will not be eligible for assistantships until they are enrolled as graduate-level students in the Graduate School.

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