User uploaded custom header image
VCU representatives at the American Nuclear Society Student Conference.

Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) students won six awards at the 2024 American Nuclear Society (ANS) Student Conference. Competing against students from universities across the U.S. during the recent conference at Penn State University, the VCU College of Engineering sent more than two-dozen students, winning five Best Presentation awards and a Best Paper award. 

Here’s a look at VCU’s winning students, the professors who helped them, and their work. 

Best Presentation Award in Radiation Protection & Medical Physics:
“Radiation Shielding Efficiency of Super-Hard Tungsten Tetraboride (WB4) Nanoparticle-Reinforced Epoxy Composites”
—Furkan Erdogan (mechanical and nuclear engineering doctoral student); Reza Mohammadi, Ph.D., (Associate Professor); Jessika Rojas, Ph.D., (Associate Professor and Faculty Advisor)

This was the second time Furkan Erdogan won an ANS award (he also won at the 2023 Student Conference). Erdogan says he got a lot of encouragement and valuable feedback from his advisor, Jessika Rojas, Ph.D., and other College of Engineering faculty while creating his presentation about lightweight composites. These materials can be used to safely store and transport low- and intermediate-level radioactive items used in a wide range of applications. “Whenever we needed something, they were always there,” Erdogan said of the support from VCU professors. “Winning this award makes you feel like you’re doing something right. It’s a recognition of all your hard work.”


Best Presentation Award in Nonproliferation, Security & Safeguards:
“Applications of Comprehensive Visual Transport Security Risk Model to Enhance Nuclear Security Regimes”
— Christine George (B.S in statistics, B.A. in political science ’24)

Christine George’s presentation was based on a project they  worked on during an Oak Ridge National Laboratory internship that examined security risks of transporting nuclear materials in overseas countries. “Winning the award really meant a lot to me, especially because I’m actually not an engineering major,” George said. “It was really cool to win Best Presentation as a statistician at a conference with primarily nuclear engineers.” George was able to attend the event with the VCU College of Engineering that coordinated the trip, and they practiced the winning presentation in front of Lane Carasik, Ph.D., and his research group. “They gave me really useful feedback,” George says.


Best Presentation Award in Fuel Cycles, Waste Management & Decommissioning:
“An INDEPTH Analysis of Spent Pebbles”
Benjamin Impson (bachelor’s in mechanical engineering ’24); Braden Goddard, Ph.D., (Assistant Professor and Faculty Advisor); Zeyun Wu, Ph.D. (Associate Professor)

Benjamin Impson’s project used a computer program to examine spent pebbles that help power some nuclear reactors to determine if the pebbles can be reused. “I looked at it as the capstone of my time at VCU,” Impson says. But unlike a Capstone project created by a larger team, Impson did the research himself and perfected the presentation with feedback from his advisor, Braden Goddard, Ph.D., who suggested ways to make its findings clear. “You’re writing a presentation from the perspective of ‘I’ve lived in this world for months,’” Impson said. “If I can make it make sense to him, the odds it will make sense to a general audience are pretty good.”


Best Presentation in Thermal Hydraulics:
“LES at Low Richardson Number to Investigate Thermal Stratification in SFRs Upper Plenums”
—Theodore Chu (thermal hydraulics doctoral student), Trevor Franklin (doctoral student), Lane Carasik, Ph.D., (Assistant Professor and Faculty Advisor)

Teddy Chu did not go into the ANS conference expecting to win, so their Best Presentation award was a nice surprise. “I’m very new to the field, and it’s been very welcoming and very accommodating,” Chu says. “To be able to give that presentation and to gain recognition for something I’ve only been doing for two years was honestly a really incredible feeling.” Chu adds the award was the result of joint efforts with VCU students and faculty who helped with the research, providing feedback during practice runs of the presentation that examined how temperature changes affect the flow of liquid metal within one section of a nuclear reactor. “This was not some sort of solo endeavor,” Chu says.


Best Presentation in Fusion & Plasma Physics:
“MHD Modeling of Splashing of Beryllium Melt in Tokamak Reactor using OpenFOAM”
—Cheng Zhang, (Ph.D. in nuclear engineering ‘24), Gennady Miloshevsky, Ph.D., (Associate Professor and Faculty Advisor).

Cheng Zhang says his Best Presentation Award was an affirmation of research he’s pursuing into how a protective layer within a fusion reactor responds when exposed to high temperatures. “This award recognizes what I’m doing and helps me have the confidence to move on with my future work.” He was nervous before the presentation and was competing against presenters from the University of Michigan, University of Wisconsin and West Point. But Zhang felt more at ease as the presentation progressed. The conference also offered the opportunity to meet students and faculty at other universities, national lab officials, and others in the field. “I met a lot of people and made network connections with them,” Zhang said.


Best Paper:
“New Developments and Verification of the Fusion Blanket Simulation Capabilities in the MOOSE Framework”
— Trevor Franklin (mechanical and nuclear engineering doctoral student); Lane Carasik, Ph.D. (Assistant Professor and Faculty Advisor); Pierre-Clément Simon (Idaho National Laboratory); Casey Icenhour (INL); Paul Humrickhouse (Oak Ridge National Laboratory), Fande Kong (Amazon Web Services)

According to Trevor Franklin, presenting a paper to a conference audience can be stressful but also rewarding. “It’s an honor to go up there and talk about all the work you’ve been doing,” Franklin said. To prepare for the ANS Student Conference, Franklin did mock presentations with VCU professors and worked through edits from his advisor, Lane Carasik, Ph.D. “VCU is very supportive about you going and taking a week off to go to this conference,” he said. “It’s like having someone in your corner the entire time.” Franklin’s paper, a collaboration between  Idaho National Laboratory researchers where he interned last summer and VCU, focuses on how a key fusion energy system component functions in a simulated environment. “Winning Best Paper really says a lot about the great mentoring I had over there as well as here at VCU.”


The Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering provides undergraduate and graduate students with the opportunity to perform real-world research as soon as they enroll. Formed from a partnership with Dominion Energy, the department provides a foundation in nuclear energy, allowing students to choose their educational path with advanced coursework in either mechanical or nuclear engineering. Access to industry tools, like the Nuclear Reactor Simulator Laboratory, grounds education in practical instruction. Browse videos and recent news from the Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering to discover how the College of Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University prepares the next generation of scientists and engineers for the challenges of the future.

Categories Graduate Student Stories, Mechanical & Nuclear Engineering, Nuclear Engineering, Student Stories, Undergraduate Student Stories
Tagged , , , , , , , ,