This past weekend, Rensselaer hosted the 2006 American Nuclear Society Student Conference. This annual conference brings nuclear engineering students and those interested in nuclear science together to learn and network with one another. This year, there were 360 people registered for the conference—over 80 percent of them were students, and the rest were faculty and company representatives.
After submitting a bid for the ANS Student Conference to be held here, RPI ultimately won over several other major schools. At this point, a committee of 40 RPI student volunteers was created, with the co-chairs as Rian M. Bahran ’06 and Joe Fricano ’06. The ANS conference is the end-product of the one and half years of hard work from this all-student run committee. In addition to organizing different aspects of this conference, they were able to raise over $100,000 to support it.
One of the main objects of this conference is for students to share their research with individuals that they do not know. Also, it is a good place for networking with other individuals and attending the career fair held for the ANS with about 30 companies. The theme for this year’s conference was “Nuclear Power: A Look at the Future.” Attendees chose from technical sessions, speakers, and workshops. There were a variety of topics addressed such as Fuel Cycle and Waste Management, Economics in the Nuclear Industry, and Monte Carlo Methods and Applications.
Nuclear engineer Jill Rydalch ’06 from Idaho State University said that of all the events at the conference, she especially enjoyed many of the speakers and the networking opportunities.
Though many of the workshop topics were specialized, Co-Chair Bahran explained that “a secondary theme for this conference was to bridge the large gap between technical nuclear science and nuclear politics.” With an insurgence of interest in the nuclear industry, there must be a look at the future. For this reason, the committee created two panels addressing the political aspects of nuclear power that are the spotlight of the conference. These panels were created for individuals and even the general public to learn from leaders and experts in a comfortable environment. The first panel had to do with the future of nuclear power in the United States with panelists from the nuclear industry and government.
The second panel was on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and International Safeguards, which dealt with the halting of nuclear weapons production technology for warfare and instead utilizing nuclear power for peaceful purposes. This particular panel had four renowned experts on the topic and was open for the public to attend. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation topic, as stated by RPI nuclear engineering student Vicki Stigall ’07, “is something very important for us to continually be aware of. I truly learned a lot from both the workshop and the panel about this topic.”
This conference shows the rest of the RPI community that “there are people in the student body who are nuclear engineers and are interested in nuclear science. I am sure many people saw the ANS shirts saying ‘I Heart U-235’,” explains Bahran. The ANS student committee of RPI created a smooth and successful ANS conference here by bringing forth the issues and renowned experts to learn and network with.
