Pitt HomeFind PeopleContact Us
School of Engineering

August 31, 2009

News View Article

Nuclear Engineering Graduate Fellowships Launched With $400K Federal Grant

Pitt's nuclear engineering program netted a coveted $400,000 grant from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to support two graduate fellowships, which will help bolster the academic research component of Pitt's nearly three-year-old program. The NRC grant will support two PhD students with $50,000 a year for four years. The students will collaborate with Westinghouse Electric Company to develop a more quantitative and mechanistic understanding of the degradation of the austenitic stainless steels used in constructing nuclear reactors.

Pitt's program was established to answer the growing demand for nuclear engineers and is the only nuclear engineering track in Western Pennsylvania. The program is noted for teaching and training aspiring engineers in nuclear operations and safety by working closely with nuclear engineering companies such as Bechtel Bettis, Westinghouse, and FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company. The NRC has frequently recognized Pitt's program with support. In August 2008, the program received grants totaling $650,000 to bolster its undergraduate and graduate certificate programs. Since 2007, the NRC has provided $400,000 for a distance-learning portion of the graduate certificate, a unique aspect of Pitt's program geared toward students across Pennsylvania and nuclear engineers already in the workplace.
For more information, contact Pitt News Representative Morgan Kelly at 412-624-4356 (office); 412-897-1400 (cell); mekelly@pitt.edu

Experts and Stories

There is always newsworthy research and events happening in the Swanson School of Engineering.

You are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Although this site is viewable in all browsers, it will look much better in a browser that supports web standards.