What do you do as a nuclear engineer?
Nuclear engineering is a vast array of skills. As a nuclear design engineer my focus is on the integration of all other engineering disciplines to create constructable designs and upgrades focused on nuclear generation plants, nuclear facilities, and new nuclear reactors while ensuring that the license and design basis margins are maintained. This includes understanding the impacts to environment and associated populations near operating plants to ensure continued operation without detriment to the public or lands that surround these base load power generators
Why did you choose nuclear?
Nuclear power began to fascinate me in high-school through experiences that were molded by three-mile island and Chernobyl. Our ability to properly and safely harness the near unlimited power contained within atoms to improve society provided a challenge far beyond that of other engineering applications. After leaving high-school, I chose to join the US Navy as an enlisted submarine operator of nuclear plants instead of going to college at that time. This path provided me an upfront and first-hand career to operate and maintain nuclear plants under the most demanding of conditions and solidified my desire to continue to focus on a career in nuclear power. The amount of energy created compared to the waste created always struck a coord with me that nuclear was the path to a more sustainable and green base load for growing power demand
What would you say to kids wanting to make engineering their future?
Look inward to your passion, find the thing that sparks your curiosity and interest and seek that as your career. Engineering is the application of theory, design, and creativity for the improvement of humankind. The field of engineering covers every aspect of the things around us and provides one of the most rewarding careers you can imagine. It is the path to solve tomorrow’s problems by creating what others dream about.