Being Educated in a New Nuclear Engineering Program: A Graduate Student Perspective

Due to the advent of a dramatic increase in the demand for nuclear professionals, a number of universities are either strengthening their existing nuclear engineering programs or starting them for the first time. Following this trend, Virginia Commonwealth University, in Richmond, Virginia, in 2009 began to offer a program in Nuclear Engineering within the Department of Mechanical Engineering. As a student within the PhD program, the author presents his perspective — as well as observations from some undergraduate students — of being educated in a new Nuclear Engineering program. From his perspective, the author presents some mechanisms that have made this new program evolve. Additionally, herein are included some ideas applied by the author in order to carry out successful research — while overcoming the limitations of a new program: spontaneous and embedded innovation, networking, and creativity. It is hoped that the present paper will provide positive feedback to faculty members and motivate students, in any new educational program, particularly, in this renaissance of education, in the nuclear engineering field.