Research Funding

  • Sept 2019: Dr. Berke is awarded $400,000 over 4 years from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to administer graduate fellowships in nuclear science & engineering.
  • Sept 2019: Dr. Hailei Wang and Dr. Geordie Richards are awarded a $431,628 Faculty Development Grant from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, under the supervision of Prof. Barton Smith.
  • March 2019: Graduate student Adam Smith is awarded a 3-year, $155,000 graduate fellowship from the NEUP Integrated University Program. Congratulations Adam!
  • June 2018: Dr. Berke is Co-PI on a $776,669 grant from NEUP in collaboration with Profs. Owen Kingstedt, Jiyoung Chang, and Ashley Spear at the University of Utah.
  • April 2018: Prof. Liu is granted a CAREER award from the National Science Foundation to explore the role of hydrogen bonds in developing more thermally efficient materials.
  • June 2017: Dr. Roberts is awarded a $300,000 Infrastructure grant from NEUP to secure a dual beam SEM/FIB instrument for USU's Microscopy Core Facility, with Drs. Ban, Berke, Shervais, and Vargis as Co-PIs.
  • May 2017: PhD Student Robert S. Hansen is awarded a 3-year, $155,000 graduate fellowship from the NEUP Integrated University Program. Congratulations Robert!
  • Jan 2017: Dr. Smith awarded A Priori Uncertainty Assessment of Pressure Field Measurements from Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) Data from Bechtel Marine Propulsion Corporation
  • October 2016: Barton L Smith,"CFD and System Code Benchmark Data for Plenum-to-Plenum Flow Under Natural, Mixed, and Forced Circulation Conditions",U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
  • Sept 2016: Dr. Elizabeth Vargis is awarded a $312,145 Faculty Development Grant from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, under the supervision of Prof. Heng Ban.
  • June 2016: Prof. Barton Smith is awarded $800,000 from NEUP to provide experimental flow data for assessing the accuracy of computer models.
  • June 2016: Prof. Heng Ban is awarded a $5 Million Integrated Research Project (IRP) grant from NEUP, with Profs. Berke and Liu as Co-PIs. This was the largest grant issued this year by the Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy, featuring collaborations between 6 universities, 3 industry partners, 3 international partners, and Idaho National Lab.
  • June 2015: Dr. Smith awarded Best Practices for PIV Measurements at the Exit of a Turbulent Jet from Bechtel Marine Propulsion Corporation
  • Sept 2015: Profs. Berke and Roberts are awarded a $329,779 Faculty Development Grant from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, under the supervision of Prof. Heng Ban.
  • June 2015: Dr. Smith receives a $202,100 grant from Bechtel Marine Propulsion Corporation on best practices for particle image velocimetry measurements involving turbulent flow.
  • Aug 2015: Dr. Roberts is awarded an Energy Research Triangle Award in collaboration with PI Taylor Sparks at the University of Utah and Co-PI Matt Jones at Brigham Young University to study Optimization of Tunable Thermoelectric Generators for efficient thermal energy harvesting.
  • June 2015: Prof. Berke is Awarded a $226,824 Infrastructure grant from NEUP to secure an advanced camera system to measure full-field temperatures and strains at extreme temperatures, with Drs. Ban, Fronk, Liu, and Roberts as Co-PIs.
  • May 2014: Drs. Roberts and Vargis are awarded Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Awards from ORAU.
  • Sept 2013: Drs. Katz and Quinn are awarded a $319,452 Faculty Development Grant from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, under the supervision of Prof. Robert Spall.
  • Aug 2013: Drs. Ban and Smith are awarded a $200,000 scholarship fund from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission to promote nuclear engineering scholarship at USU.
  • 2011-2012: Dr. Smith receives $234,540 to develop uncertainty quantification methodology for INL’s Matched Index of Refraction (MIR) facility.
  • Aug 2012: Dr. Smith awared Validation Experiments for Spent Fuel Pool and Dry Cask Natural Convection from Battelle
  • Aug 2012: Dr. Smith awarded Development OF A Next-Generation Production Code for Nuclear Safety from Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC
  • Aug 2012: Dr. Smith awarded Validation Experiments for Spent Fuel Pool and Dry Cask Natural Convection from Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC
  • May 2012: Drs. Smith and Spall receive $690,000 from NEUP to perform validation simulations and experiments for spent-fuel dry-cask in-basket convection.
  • Jan 2012: Dr. Smith awared Development OF Uncertainty Methodology for the INL MIR Facility PIV Measurements from Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC
  • Sept 2011: Dr. Smith awarded NEUP: Transient Mixed Convection Validation for NGNP from U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
  • Sept 2011: Drs. Smith and Spall receive $635,860 from NEUP to study transient mixed convection validation for Next Generation Nuclear Plants (NGNP).
  • April 2011: Dr. Smith awared Validation Standards and Requirements for NE-CAMS from Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC
  • November 2010: Dr. Smith awared Advising on NGNP Instrumentation from Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC
  • Sept 2010: Dr. Smith awared As Built Measurements of USU Cylinder Array from Bechtel Marine Propulsion Corporation
  • Jan 2010: Dr. Smith awared Consulting Regarding Instrumentation Diagnostics for CFD Validation from Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC
  • November 2009: Dr. Smith awarded Development of a Next-Generation Production Code for Nuclear Safety from Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC
  • Aug 2009: Dr. Smith receive U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Scholarship Education Grant from the U.S. Dept. of Energy - U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
  • Aug 2009: Dr. Smith awarded Transient Mixed Convection Facility for CFD Validation DATA from U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)