Momentum - The Magazine for Virginia Tech Mechanical Engineering Vol. 4 No. 4 Winter 2019 | Page 14

14 Juliana Duarte, center, with members of her laboratory. Grants provide $850K for nuclear faculty, graduate student fellowships The nuclear engineering program in the de- partment of mechanical engineering has been awarded two grants totaling $850,000 by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Integrated University Program for faculty development and graduate student fellowships. The IUP was authorized by Congress in 2009 to en- hance the nuclear workforce. Since nuclear engineering was re-established at Virginia Tech in 2007, the program has been successful in receiving several grants totaling about $2.8 million. “The NRC’s Integrated University Program has been instrumental in attracting highly-qualified faculty and graduate students to the nuclear engineering program,” said Alireza Haghighat, professor and director of mechanical engi- neering’s nuclear engineering program. “We are delighted to have received these grants to enhance our nuclear engineering program which has had a strong tradition of scholarship since its inception at Virginia Tech,” said Azim Eskandarian, mechanical engineering department head and Nicholas and Rebecca Des Champs Chaired Professor. “We are building unique capabilities in nuclear engineering which are taking advantage of collaborations within VT with ME faculty and experts across the university, including material science and engineering, physics, and chemistry, among others, as well as partnering with regional universities and engaging with productive international exchanges,” Eskan- darian said. Faculty Development The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has