The Institute for Space and Nuclear Power Studies

http://www.unm.edu/~ISNPS/news/isnpsnews.html

Mohamed S. El-Genk: Small reactors offer solution to global warming

Mohamed S. El-Genk is published in a paper, Carlsbad Current-Argus, with the article: "Small reactors offer solution to global warming." See full text here.

Mohamed S. El-Genk, Regents’ Professor of Chemical, Nuclear and Mechanical Engineering and the Founding Director of the Institute for Space and Nuclear Power Studies http://www.unm.edu/~isnps/personnel/el-genk.html has been named the recipient of the 2010 Donald Q. Kern Memorial Award by the Transport and Energy Process Division of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.  This award given in honor of Donald Q. Kern, a pioneer in process heat transfer, is one of the most prestigious in the world in recognizing significant contributions to the fields of applied heat transfer or energy conversion or in the translation of research results into useful technological applications.  El-Genk joins the recognized leaders in the field of heat transfer who received this award since 1974
http://www.aiche.org/About/Awards/Divisions/DonaldQKernAward.aspx
El-Genk is a Fellow of the American Nuclear Society, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety, and an associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He is a member of the Assembly of the International Heat Transfer Conference (IHTC), the Organizing, Steering and U.S. Scientific committees of the 2010 14th IHTC, and the Scientific Committee of the International Center for Heat and Mass Transfer.

Research Assistantships

The Institute for Space and Nuclear Power Studies at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA (http://www.unm.edu/~ISNPS/) has a number of multi-year research assistantships starting in the spring semester 2010, or earlier, for qualifying students to pursue advanced studies toward a PhD in Nuclear Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or Mechanical Engineering. Research areas of interest include fluid flow and thermal analysis of complex systems, compact heat exchangers, high temperature heat pipe and liquid-metal/gas heat exchanger; enhanced cooling of electronics, boiling heat transfer; CFD analysis and reactor thermal hydraulics, micro-channel flow and heat transfer; chemical kinetics and modeling of graphite oxidation during water and air ingress in high temperature reactors; multi-physics simulation; neutronics and burn up analyses; radiation detection and measurements in natural and man made environments; and design of small reactors. Primary selection criteria will emphasize previous GPA, particularly in the above or closely related areas, and prior research and industrial experience. Research assistantship pays competitive 12 months stipend, full tuition and health insurance coverage. Those interested please submit CV and copies of undergraduate and graduate certificates as attachments to email to: isnps@unm.edu

Chemical and Nuclear Engineering Student Defends Master's Thesis

Mr. Bruno Martin Gallo, Research Assistant with the Institute for space and Nuclear Power Studies, successfully defended his Master Thesis entitled"Brayton Rotating Unit designs and Analyses for Space Reactor Power Systems." The Thesis committee includes Professor Norm Rodrick, Professor Jean-Michel Tournier, and Regents' Professor Mohamed El-Genk (Chair), at the department of Chemical and Nuclear Engineering. Mr. Gallo is graduating with an MS degree in Nuclear Engineering. He will return to his native country Argentina to sort through a number of exciting job offers. On behalf of the ISNPS's family and the Department of Chemical and Nuclear Engineering we wish Bruno the best for the Holidays and offer him our warm congratulations for such outstanding accomplishment.

The photo shows Mr. Gallo with the members of Thesis committee and his friends and fellow graduate students, Timothy M. Schriener and Tai Pham. Tim and Tia are Ph.D. Candidates in Nuclear Engineering currently working on their Dissertations with Professor El-Genk at ISNPS.

Two Chemical and Nuclear Engineering Students Successfully Defend their PhD Disertation and Masters Thesis

Jack L. Parker: Jack L. Parker successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation entitled “Boiling of Dielectric Liquids on Porous Graphite and Extended Copper Surfaces,” and will graduate in a couple of weeks with a Ph.D. from the Department of Chemical and Nuclear Engineering at University of New Mexico (UNM).  Jack is a Research Assistant with the Institute for Space and Nuclear Power Studies (ISNPS) which partially funded his Ph.D. research with the support of a DOE graduate fellowship.  Jack’s Ph.D. Faculty advisor is Dr. Mohamed S. El-Genk, Regents’ Professor of Chemical, Nuclear and Mechanical Engineering and Director of UNM-ISNPS.  Other members of Jack’s dissertation committee are Dr. Timothy L. Ward, Professor of Chemical and Nuclear Engineering, Dr. Dimiter Petsev, Associate Professor of Chemical and Nuclear Engineering, and Dr. Arsalan Razani, Professor of Mechanical Engineering.  Several refereed journal articles and full papers in conference proceedings, based on the results of Jack’s dissertation research, have been published.  For listings visit:
http://www.unm.edu/~ISNPS/research/research.htm

Devin W. Gray:  Devin W. Gray successfully defended his Masters Thesis entitled “An Investigation of Gas Bubble Injection from Single Nozzles into Water and Liquid Metal Pools,” and will graduate in a couple of weeks with an M.S. from the Department of Chemical and Nuclear Engineering at University of New Mexico (UNM).  Devin is a member of the technical staff at Los Alamos National Laboratory and his thesis faculty advisor is Dr. Mohamed S. El-Genk, Regents’ Professor of Chemical, Nuclear and Mechanical Engineering and Director of UNM-ISNPS.  Other members of Devin’s thesis committee are Dr. Timothy L. Ward, Professor of Chemical and Nuclear Engineering, and Dr. Gary W. Cooper, Associate Professor of Chemical and Nuclear Engineering.

New Fellow of the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety (IAASS)

Mohamed S. El-Genk, Regents’ Professor of Chemical, Nuclear, and Mechanical Engineering and the founding Director of the Institute for Space and Nuclear Power Studies at the University of New Mexico (http://www.unm.edu/~isnps/ ) has been elected Fellow of the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety (IAASS) http://www.iaass.org/

 IAASS is a non-profit organization dedicated to furthering international cooperation and scientific advancement in the field of space systems safety and it is a member of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF). 

Professor El-Genk is also a Fellow of the American Nuclear Society (ANS), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), and an Associate Fellow of the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). 

El-Genk is serving on the IASS Academic Committee to develop international education and training programs in collaboration with other universities in US and abroad in the areas of space power and propulsion technologies and the advancement of Space Safety. 

He is a member of the program committee of the IAASS Conference “Building a Safer Space Together” to be held in Rome, Italy, 21 – 23 October 2008 http://www.congrex.nl/07a02/.

2008: A year of celebrations

2008 marks the 50th anniversary of NASA. Established on July 29, 1958 by the National Aeronautics and Space Act, NASA is responsible for the nation's public space program as well as long-term civilian and military aerospace research. The Institute of Space and Nuclear Power Studies would like to congratulate NASA on 50 years of pioneering space exploration. The Institute's own Space Technology and Applications International Forum, or STAIF as it is more commonly known, is also celebrating its 25th year in 2008.

New Class for Spring 2008: Human Settlement of Space

CHNE 499/PS 400: In this visionary course, students will work in teams to examine a host of scientific, technological, psychological, physiological, legal and economical issues. The course is limited to upper-class undergraduate students, particularly those from the following disciplines: engineering, science, education, business, political science, law, and humanities. For more information, please download the class flyer.

From the Cosmic to the Microscopic...

Whether it's power systems for a Lunar outpost or fast travel to distant planets, reducing nuclear waste here on Earth, or studying the passage of fluids through microchannels 1/20th the thickness of a human hair—crucial to the development of microsystems—the Institute for Space and Nuclear Power Studies is researching tomorrow's solutions today.

Reliability and global value figure into the Institute's goal to design the next generation commerical nuclear reactors. Reactors small enough to be transported on a railroad car will provide a dependable, cost-effective, efficient, long-life, and proliferation-proof source of electricity generation and process heat for industrial needs in underdeveloped countries without electrical grids, or with grids too small to meet current and future needs. These nuclear energy sources are designed to have an overall thermal utilization in excess of 90-percent....Text Continues Below Video...

Additional research at the Institute includes the study of immersion cooling of high-power electronics using pool boiling of dielectric liquids at heat flux in excess of 100 watt/cm², advanced fuel cycle, neutronics, thermal-hydraulics and safety of space reactors, interaction and shielding of high energy protons and heavy charged particles, fluid flow and heat transfer in microchannels, dynamic and static energy conversion, transient modeling and simulation of space nuclear power systems, heat pipes for thermal management and heat ejection radiators.

In looking to the heavens and space exploration, the objective is to improve launch safety of nuclear reactor payloads, and to achieve power solutions for deep space missions where solar technology is not an option.