Chair
Maxwell Daniels
Maxwell is a master’s student at Idaho State University (ISU) studying Nuclear Science and Engineering (NSEN). He graduated ISU in May 2015 with a B.S. in Nuclear Engineering. Currently he holds a senior reactor operator (SRO) license at the AGN-201 research reactor where he conducts research on materials reactivity analysis and creates outreach efforts to educate the public on nuclear energy concepts. Prior to this position, Maxwell has interned as both a mechanical and process engineer.
Maxwell’s current research focuses on the design, build, and implementation of a solid-state reactor control console at the AGN-201. Previously, Maxwell has performed research on criticality safety and alternative uses of small modular reactors (SMRs). His research interests include advanced reactor concepts, nuclear energy policy, and nuclear aerospace applications.
Maxwell is active in both the American Nuclear Society (ANS) and the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management (INMM). He currently presides over the INMM student chapter at ISU and has previously served as an officer in the ISU student chapter of the ANS. In his spare time, Maxwell enjoys video games, hiking, and power lifting.
Co-Vice Chairs
Dane de Wet
Dane de Wet recently graduated with his B.S. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. During his time at UT, he researched instrumentation and controls for advanced reactors under Dr. Belle R. Upadhyaya where he designed flow loops that utilized innovative instrumentation and control techniques. He also worked for Dr. Howard Hall and Dr. Joe Stainback at the Institute for Nuclear Security where he focused on international safeguards and implementing nuclear power programs in newcomer countries. As part of his research, he helped design safeguards for molten salt reactors. He then moved on to modeling the neutronics of a molten salt breeder reactor based on the original designs by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. After graduating, he moved over to Oak Ridge National Laboratory as an intern where he is helping develop a thermal hydraulic model of the original Molten Salt Reactor Experiment in order to help restore modeling capabilities for MSRs as part of an effort in developing the next generation of nuclear power plants. He will be attending the UC Berkeley in the fall, where he will be pursuing his Ph.D. in nuclear engineering as a NEUP Fellow. Dane also enjoys messing with 3D printers, traveling, and hiking in the Smoky Mountains.
R. Patrick White
Patrick White is a fourth-year PhD student in the Nuclear Science and Engineering Department at MIT, focusing on nuclear reactor licensing and regulation. Patrick was a graduate researcher on the 2018 MIT “Future of Nuclear Energy in a Carbon-Constrained World” study and co-authored report sections on licensing issues related to advanced nuclear reactor deployment worldwide. His current doctoral work is on developing new safety analysis and design methods to support the licensing and deployment of novel nuclear technologies.
Prior to starting graduate school at MIT, Patrick worked for MPR Associates in Alexandria, VA solving engineering problems at commercial nuclear power plants and co-authored an ERPI report on transitioning existing baseload nuclear power plants to flexible power (load following) operations. Patrick received his B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 2012 and has previously interned with the Westinghouse Electric Company and the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board.
Delegates
Addie Barron
Addie is currently a second year master’s student in the Medical Physics program at Louisiana State University. She received her B.S. in Biophysics from Centenary College of Louisiana in 2015. Her current research at LSU focuses on the isocentric accuracy of the Elekta Versa HD radiation therapy machine used to treat patients at Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center. Her research interests include radiation safety and quality assurance of treatment delivery.
Along with research, Addie held a teaching assistant position for introductory physics labs at LSU. She is also an active member of the American Nuclear Society and co-founded the LSU ANS student section last year. She has participated in outreach programs including the LSU ANS student section-sponsored “Get to Know Nuclear” for Girl Scouts to earn their patch of the same title and the Louisiana Art and Science Museum’s Engineering Day. Outside of academics, Addie enjoys reading, baking, and gardening.
Evangelina Brayfindley
Eva is a fourth year of graduate school in Applied Mathematics at North Carolina State University. She received her B.S in chemistry and mathematics from the University of San Francisco in 2014. Current research is focused on the application of facial recognition methods in nuclear nonproliferation applications. In particular, her research focuses on improving defect detection in inspections of nuclear facilities for treaty validation.
Travis Dietz
Travis is a PhD candidate at the University of Maryland, College Park studying Materials Science and Engineering while supported by an NRC fellowship, with the expectation to graduate in 2018. His current research focus, which is funded through a NEUP grant, is on the extraction of uranium from seawater through the use of radiation grafted fabrics. He has also performed research on alpha-particle radiation chemistry in aqueous systems.
Travis holds a senior reactor operator license at the Maryland University Training Reactor where he trains undergraduates on reactor operations and provides tours of the facility for a wide variety of groups. He is also an active member of the American Nuclear Society, serving as the membership chair of his local DC section and as the co-chair of the student program for both the 2015 and 2017 ANS Winter Meeting and Technology Expo in Washington, D.C.
Travis previously obtained his B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Chicago and has remained active with his local alumni chapter by serving as their communications chair. He is an avid squash player and is a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity, currently serving as the faculty advisor for the University of Maryland chapter.
Micah Folsom
Micah Folsom is a PhD candidate at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, performing his research at Oak Ridge National Lab. His focus is radiation detection and his thesis is on the development of a portable fast neutron imaging system to detect and localize special nuclear material. Micah received his MSc in 2017 and has also worked at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and Pacific Northwest National Lab in the past, developing radiation detectors for safeguards applications. He is a co-vice chair of the 2018 Nuclear Engineering Student Delegation and participated in 2017 as a delegate.
Hannah Gardiner
Hannah Gardiner is a fifth year Ph.D. student in Nuclear Engineering at the University of Florida. She received her M.S. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Florida in May 2016 and her B.S. in Physics from Louisiana State University in May 2014. Her current research is focused on designing an x-ray backscatter radiography system to measure in-field root system architecture in order to produce crops that increase carbon-organic matter in the soil, reduce fertilizer use, and increase water productivity. She has interned at Pacific Northwest National Lab developing algorithms for low-count radiation measurements as well as at RAND Corporation providing guidance for radiological and nuclear event preparation.
Hannah is an active member of the American Nuclear Society (ANS), serving on the National ANS Social Media Team, is a past secretary for UF chapter of the the Institute for Nuclear Material Management (INMM), and serves as the Chair of the UF College of Engineering Graduate Student Council. In her free time, Hannah enjoys cooking, travelling, and exploring the outdoors with her dog, Bear.
Andrew Greenop
Andrew Greenop is currently a PhD candidate for Nuclear Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. He received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and a B.S. in Mathematics from Christian Brothers University in Memphis, TN in 2012. He then obtained his M.S. in Nuclear Engineering from UC Berkeley in May of 2016.
His undergraduate engineering senior design project was incorporating alternative energy sources to extend the battery life of an electric bicycle. This work was part of the motivation for him to go into energy research and eventually into nuclear engineering. For his graduate work, he currently works in the Thermal Hydraulics labs in the Nuclear Department at UC Berkeley, which focuses on the development and design of the Mark 1 Pebble-Bed Fluoride Salt Cooled High Temperature Reactor (Mk1 PB-FHR). His focus is on simulation, design optimization, and experimental modeling of the Coiled Tube Gas Heater (CTGH), which couples the molten salt primary loop with an air Brayton power conversion cycle. The CTGH also can be used with different advanced reactor designs. He is currently studying applications for the CTGH that include sodium reactors coupled with supercritical carbon dioxide and a Chinese experimental molten salt test reactor coupled with an air Brayton cycle.
Andrew became involved in ANS during graduate school where he started studying nuclear engineering. He has been involved with many of the local chapter’s events and meeting. During his free time, Andrew enjoys traveling, running, cycling, reading, windsurfing, and cooking.
Matthew Herald
Matthew is a undergraduate nuclear engineering student studying at the University of Tennessee. His interest in the field of nuclear engineering started in high school when he participated in a summer research program for appalachian students at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. While working in a supercomputing group, he learned about Oak Ridge’s historical importance to the Manhattan Project. In awe of the power of the atom and fascinated by the use of nuclear energy for electricity production it was this experience that compelled him to study nuclear engineering.
At the University of Tennessee he devotes most of his time towards serving the community of engineering students as the President of the Engineering Mentor Program (EMP). EMP is a student-led organization that provides first and second year engineering students with an upperclassman mentor in their major. The goal of the organization is to create a more interconnected and open community of engineering students.
Research constitutes another large part of his life. He has participated in internships at Oak Ridge National Laboratory working under Dr. Lou Qualls, researching Pu-238 production and usage for space missions, as well as at Idaho National Laboratory working under Dr. Donna Post Guillen, researching high level waste vitrification. In addition, Matthew also conducts research at the University of Tennessee under Dr. Arthur Ruggles researching Positron Emission Particle Tracking (PEPT) as a method of measuring fluid flow and studying turbulence.
In his free time Matthew rows for for the Tennessee Crew Club, runs marathons, hikes in the Smoky Mountains, is active in the UTK chapter of the American Nuclear Society, edits Pursuit: The Undergraduate Research Journal of the University of Tennessee, and writes for Your Everyday Science Blog.
Adrian Leandro
Adrian Leandro is currently a second-year graduate student at the Pennsylvania State University pursuing a Master of Science in Nuclear Engineering. His research focus is in thermal hydraulics and two-phase flow modeling using the nuclear system analysis code TRACE. More specifically, Adrian studies how the interfacial area transport equation and its constitutive relationships can be improved on TRACE by simulating experimentally obtained two-phase flow data. Adrian is spending the summer working as an engineering intern at Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory.
In addition to research, Adrian has been a teaching assistant and grader for several nuclear engineering courses at Penn State. He also is the president of Penn State’s chapter of Alpha Nu Sigma, the nuclear engineering honor society. This prestigious society holds an annual energy forum where members from different Penn State departments discuss and debate America’s energy production and needs. Additionally, Adrian is an avid member of ANS and attended the 2016 ANS Student Conference in Madison Wisconsin to present undergraduate research comparing the nuclear simulation codes of COBRA-TF and TRACE.
Outside of the classroom, Adrian can be found outdoors landscaping as a hobby. He is also a dedicated NFL fan every Sunday in the fall, cheering on the Pittsburgh Steelers!
Aristidis Loumis
Aries is a Nuclear, Plasma, & Radiological Engineering student, with a concetraction in Power, Safety, and the Environment. He has research experiences in the synthesis of biodiesels, via computational modeling of their chemical kinetics, radiation detection and real time geospatial information data analytics, the environment, energy policy, and waste management. His reason for pursuing engineering came from an interest in preserving the environment and stopping global climate change. He is also the Founder and CEO of Lumos Industries.
Mitch Negus
Mitch is a third year PhD student focusing on computational nuclear engineering at UC Berkeley. He believes that nuclear energy has the potential to be a sustainable, clean power source for the future, and so is working on modeling nuclear reactors using novel simulation methods. In the process, he’s developed an interest in bringing the techniques of reproducible and open-source data-science to the nuclear field. Before moving to the Bay Area, Mitch earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and performed nuclear physics research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Outside of academics, Mitch is an active member of the Berkeley Nuclear Environmental Outreach Group. This is a team of students looking to make nuclear science—and especially nuclear energy’s merits as an environmentally conscious energy source—accessible to the general public. He also loves to run competitively, and spends most of his spare time training in the Berkeley hills.
Gabriel Sandler
Gabriel Sandler is a nuclear engineering PhD student at the University of Florida (UF) and a fellow of the Consortium for Verification Technology. He holds a MS and BS in nuclear engineering and a minor in sales engineering from UF. Gabriel began his graduate work on the utilization of X-ray Backscatter Radiography for non-destructive testing of polymer coated steel. For his thesis work, Gabriel’s research focus has shifted to a project in radioactive plume tracking analysis for nuclear security purposes. Additionally, in the summer of 2016, Gabriel interned at Sandia National Laboratory studying detection characterization of a neutron multiplicity counter. Gabriel is an active member of the American Nuclear Society and currently serves as the president of the UF Institute of Nuclear Material Management chapter. Following the culmination of his studies, he aims to further his career in technical policymaking at the federal level. In his free time, Gabriel enjoys watching and playing sports, and writing music.
Pavel Velkovsky
Pavel is a third year undergraduate Political Science and French major at UC Berkeley. His research interests include nuclear security and nonproliferation, and he has been involved with programs through the Nuclear Science and Security Consortium, including the Nuclear Policy Working Group. In his free time, Pavel enjoys hiking and rock climbing.
Robert Zedric
Robert is a PhD student at Texas A&M in the Department of Nuclear Engineering. Supported by the Nuclear Nonproliferation and International Safeguards fellowship, his work aims to halt the global spread of nuclear weapons by improving technologies for verification of treaties and safeguards agreements. He recently spent a year at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Austria and conducted research on the damaging effects of radiation on certain electronics. He is now continuing this work for his PhD, which can lead to better understanding and designs of electronics to withstand radiation environments.
Robert maintains a wide range of activities and interests. Among these include his involvement in the Texas A&M chapter of the Institute for Nuclear Materials Management as a past president. He also serves as the commodore of the Aggie Yacht Club. In his free time, he enjoys baking, salsa dancing, and all things outdoors. His career interests after graduation focus on the international applications of emerging nuclear technologies in matters of strategic interest to the United States.
Nuclear Engineering Student Delegation 