UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State nuclear engineering graduate students Scout Bucks and Alex Nellis were awarded graduate fellowships from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Nuclear Energy University Program (NEUP). The fellowships include a $169,000 stipend issued over three years and a summer internship at a DOE lab.
Bucks and Nellis were two of 36 nuclear engineering graduate students nationwide who were awarded the fellowship this year, according to the DOE.
Both students are interns for Penn State’s Radiation Science and Engineering Center, where, as licensed reactor operators, they operate the Breazeale nuclear reactor for facility experiments, activities and tours, as well as conduct research at the facility.
“Scout and Alex have demonstrated exceptional academic aptitude, a high standard of professionalism and dedication to their duties as reactor operators,” said the students’ supervisor Jeffrey Geuther, associate director of operations at RSEC and associate research professor of nuclear engineering. “They have proven to be more than capable of safely operating the reactor, conducting experiments and training other interns. They also have helped to contribute to the tradition of excellence and technical progress at RSEC at every opportunity. So, while it is unique to have two RSEC interns receive the NEUP graduate fellowships in the same year, it is in a way unsurprising that these two have been selected for this award."
An incoming first-year doctoral student in nuclear engineering, Bucks recently received dual bachelor’s degrees in mechanical and nuclear engineering from Penn State. He was selected to represent his class as the student marshal for the nuclear engineering department at the College of Engineering's 2024 commencement ceremony.
Bucks said he plans to conduct his graduate research in sodium heat pipes, under adviser Saya Lee, assistant professor of nuclear engineering at Penn State.
“Sodium heat pipes are tubes filled with liquid and vapor sodium used to efficiently transfer heat along the axis of the pipe,” Bucks said. “The goal of my research is to improve our understanding, measurement techniques and modeling capabilities of sodium flow in these devices for implementation in advanced nuclear reactors.”
Last year, Bucks received a $10,000 scholarship through the same program to help fund his undergraduate education.
A second-year doctoral student in nuclear engineering, Nellis also earned dual bachelor’s degrees in nuclear and mechanical engineering from Penn State last year. He was selected to represent nuclear engineering as student marshal for the class of 2023.
Though the students are not yet sure where or when they will complete their DOE internship, Nellis said he is looking forward to the experience and the chance to get some industry experience outside of the classroom.
“With an internship at a DOE facility, I have an opportunity to develop professional skills necessary for state-of-the-art research and development,” he said. “[Research and development] has been a dream job of mine since I was in third grade.”
Nellis conducts his graduate research on the neutron physics of reactors and its evolution over time. Stefano Terlizzi, a researcher at the Idaho National Laboratory who will join Penn State in August, will serve as Nellis’ doctoral adviser.
The students will use the stipend for tuition and living expenses, compensation during the DOE internship and research-related travel.
“At RSEC, we select three to six eligible undergraduate students each year to be reactor interns,” said Kenan Ünlü, director of RSEC and professor of nuclear engineering. “Led by the senior reactor operator staff at RSEC, the reactor interns are educated and trained to receive Nuclear Regulatory Commission reactor operating licenses as part of RSEC’s education mission. The selection of both Scout and Alex for the prestigious DOE NEUP graduate fellowship is a testament to our successful reactor intern program, as well as to Scout’s and Alex’s exceptional work and potential.”