Chair
Evan Gonzalez
Evan is a fourth year PhD student at University of Michigan. His research focuses on developing transient Monte Carlo methods for radiation transport. He was a Texas-NESD delegate in 2017, a NESD delegate in 2019, and a NESD co-vice chair in 2020. He has interned at Los Alamos, Argonne, and Oak Ridge National Laboratories and hopes to establish a career as a research scientist after graduation.
Co-Vice Chairs
Brent Hollrah
Brent graduated from Oklahoma State University in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and minors in Nuclear Engineering and Physics. In the Fall of 2018, he joined Texas A&M as a graduate student to study nuclear thermal hydraulics. He has also spent three summers at Argonne National Lab working with researchers to study next generation nuclear reactors. Brent graduated in December 2020 with a master’s degree in mechanical engineering. He is now at continuing his education at Texas A&M by pursuing a PhD in mechanical engineering, maintaining a focus on thermal hydraulic analysis of advanced nuclear reactors. In the Spring of 2019 Brent participated in the Texas Nuclear Engineering Student Delegation and, in Summer 2020, Brent was a member of the National Nuclear Engineering Student Delegation.
Peter Hotvedt
Peter Hotvedt is a first year PhD studying at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. His research focus on gamma ray radiation imaging and measurement through the use of room-temperature semiconductor detectors. When not studying, Peter does work as an eLearning Voiceover Artist, and enjoys running, streaming, and voice acting.
Delegates
Amanda Bachmann
Amanda is a second year PhD student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her research focuses on the nuclear fuel cycle and the transition to advanced reactors, and is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy Nuclear Energy University Program. She holds a BS and MS in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where she researched nonproliferation measurement techniques for various points in the nuclear fuel cycle. She has previously interned with Duke Energy in North Carolina and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. She is an active member of the American Nuclear Society, currently serving as the Student Director, and U.S. Women in Nuclear, serving on the Communications Committee. In her free time, Amanda enjoys reading about science history, knitting, and playing with her pet rabbit.
Peter Brain
Peter completed his undergraduate studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2020, obtaining a B.S. in Nuclear Engineering and minor in Economics. After being accepted into the B.S-Ph.D. program at RPI, Peter decided to continue his education at RPI and is currently a 2nd year doctoral student in nuclear engineering and sciences. His research project focuses on updating and validating evaluated nuclear data files for natural lead isotopes for fast spectrum systems and is funded by DOE Nuclear Energy University Program.
Peter is an active member of RPI’s ANS Student Chapter and president of the Alpha Nu Sigma honor society on campus. Work experience focuses on fire protection and fire protection system maintenance. Outside of academia you can find Peter hiking in the mountains or cooking.
Kaylee Cunningham
Kaylee is a first-year Ph.D. student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology studying nuclear engineering. Kaylee graduated with her bachelor’s degree in nuclear engineering from the University of Florida in May 2022. Her research is focused on computational nuclear fuel materials, specifically engineering-scale fuel modeling. She has interned with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Currently, Kaylee is working on a NASA funded project, focused on modeling fuel for nuclear thermal propulsions in MOOSE and BISON. She is a Nuclear Energy University Program Scholar and has contributed to the Versatile Test Reactor project. In her free time, Kaylee enjoys competing in triathlons and spending time with her Phi Sigma Rho sisters.
Robyn Hutchins
Robyn Hutchins is currently a Second year Ph.D. student in Nuclear Engineering focusing on radiation detection and related data interpretation for national defense purposes at Kansas State University. Ms. Hutchins is also co-currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Security Studies also at Kansas State University with advisement from a School of Advance Military Science faculty member. Through enrollment in both programs and work conducted at Idaho National Laboratory, Ms. Hutchins has learned to interpret technical data and draw security policy implications.
Having received her B.S. in Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering with a minor in Physics from Kansas State University in 2019, Ms. Hutchins was able to participate in work conducted at the Kansas City National Security plant, gaining experience in the testing and manufacturing of the US nuclear weapons stockpile.
Zachariah Jones
Miriam Kreher
Miriam Kreher obtained a BS in Engineering Science from the University of Pittsburgh in 2016. Currently a PhD Candidate in the MIT Nuclear Science & Engineering Department, Miriam studies Monte Carlo methods for transient simulations of nuclear reactors. Her work is supported by the Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship and the Exascale Computing Project.
Miriam’s work experience includes Los Alamos National Lab, Oak Ridge National Lab, Naval Nuclear Lab, and Westinghouse. Miriam has served in many capacities in the American Nuclear Society, including on the Board of Directors (2019-2021). She was previously an NESD Delegate in 2014.
Her personal interests include horseback riding, salsa dancing, and international cuisine.
Guillaume L’her
Guillaume L’Her is a PhD candidate in Nuclear Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines. His research focuses on advanced reactor design and the role of nuclear energy in the energy landscape from a technological, environmental, and policy perspective. He also works as a consultant for the World Bank on energy resilience in developing countries, notably regarding climate change impacts.
Before his time in Colorado, where he gained US citizenship, Guillaume was a senior nuclear engineer at EDF in France, in charge of the development team for the safety analysis application project. He holds a M.S. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Paris-Saclay. He loves spending time with his family, hiking fourteeners, traveling, and playing tennis.
Pearle Lipinski
Pearle Lipinski is a third-year law student at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law and a second- year PhD student in Nuclear Engineering in the OSU Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Her legal interests are in administrative and regulatory law, and she is blending these interests with a technical exploration of the use of risk assessment in nuclear regulation.
Prior to OSU, Pearle was the lead U.S. Government engineer for the pilot oxygen system of a major aircraft acquisition program. She originally studied aerospace engineering at MIT. Her husband is an active duty Air Force officer and chief resident in Emergency Medicine at the OSU Wexner Medical Center; together, they enjoy international travel, playing role-playing and strategy video games, and doting on their beloved cat, Kurobe.
Madeline Lockhart
Madeline Lockhart is a third-year PhD student and Nuclear Nonproliferation and International Safeguards (NNIS) fellow at North Carolina State University. She works in collaboration with Los Alamos National Laboratory on research related to international safeguards, nonproliferation, and radiation detection. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Physics from Texas Tech University in 2020 and currently serves on the Advisory Board for the College of Arts & Sciences.
Kathryn Mummah
Katie Mummah (Moo-mah) is a PhD student in Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a graduate research assistant at Los Alamos National Lab. Her research is building software tools to track the uranium lifecycle in order to help ensure nuclear materials are secure around the world, and she is supported by the Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration’s Nuclear Nonproliferation & International Safeguards Graduate Fellowship.
Some of her other professional interests include radioactive waste management and risk communication. Active in the American Nuclear Society, she currently serves as the chair of the committee overseeing all student chapters of the organization. Katie enjoys backpacking, fostering dogs, owning and caring for many houseplants, and blacksmithing.
Malachi Nelson
Malachi Nelson is a second year PhD student at the University of California, Berkeley studying nuclear engineering with minors in materials science and energy policy. He previously studied mechanical engineering and was the president of Pi Tau Sigma, but decided to pursue graduate school in nuclear engineering as a sustainable energy source. His research interests include nuclear materials, advanced manufacturing, and environmental justice. His current research focuses on advanced manufacturing techniques to improve in-core corrosion resistance. Malachi has worked closely with Idaho National Laboratory and enjoys snowboarding, backpacking, and rock climbing.
Bobbi Riedel
Laura Shi
Laura is a fourth year undergraduate Nuclear Engineering major and Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences (EECS) minor at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research focuses on artificial intelligence and natural language processing techniques for nuclear data applications supported by the Nuclear Science and Security Consortium.
Laura is an active member of the UC Berkeley ANS Student Chapter and has served as the group’s treasurer, vice president, and president. In her free time, Laura enjoys tap dancing, knitting, and playing GeoGuessr.
Sarah Stevenson
Sarah Stevenson is currently a third year Ph.D. student in Nuclear Engineering with minors in Public Policy and Materials Science at UC Berkeley. The main focus of her research is on materials in extreme environments, especially for nuclear applications. Her work is supported by the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Energy University Program, the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Nuclear Science and Security Consortium, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s BRIDGE Fellowship program.
Sarah received her M.S. in Nuclear Engineering from UC Berkeley in 2020 and her B.S. in Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering with an Aerospace Studies minor from Kansas State University in 2018. Her work experience includes the Idaho National Laboratory, French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), Sandia National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and a current internship at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Further, Sarah was previously a US Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensed Reactor Operator and Senior Reactor Operator.
Sarah commissioned as an Officer in the United States Air Force in 2018, and her current Air Force Specialty Code is Physicist/Nuclear Engineer. Upon earning her Ph.D., she will serve in the Air Force in this capacity.
Nuclear Engineering Student Delegation 