Our Department

Department Chair

Dr. Joseph Newkirk

Department Chair and Professor

Research Interests

Additive manufacturing, powder metallurgy, wear and corrosion resistant alloys, high temperature materials, aerospace materials, nuclear materials, and heat treating

Faculty

Dr. Shradha Agarwal

Associate Professor

Research Interest

 Helium mobility and its effects on the microstructure/physical properties of different advanced
ultra-high temperature ceramics (TiC, ZrC and TiN), for their possible use in BISO (Bi-structural
isotropic)/TRISO (Tri-structural isotropic) fuel forms for Gen. IV reactors

Dr. Ayodeji Alajo

Associate Professor

Research Interests

High fidelity nuclear systems design and modeling, advanced fuel cycles, radioactive waste management and nuclear systems safety

Dr. Carlos Castano

Associate Professor

Research Interest

Energy, nuclear materials, plasma material interactions, hydrogen in materials, radio electromechanical effects and nanotechnology

Dr. Joseph Graham

Associate Professor and Director of Nuclear Reactor

Research Interest

Radiation effects in ceramics, radiation solid interactions, nuclear fuel properties and nuclear waste forms 

Dr. Joshua Schlegel

Associate Professor and Associate Chair of Academics

Research Interest

Two-phase flow experiments and modeling, nuclear reactor thermal hydraulics, heat transfer and fluid mechanics

Dr. Shoaib Usman

Associate Professor and Associate Chair of Research

Research Interest

Radiation transport, radiation protection, radioactive waste management

Joint Appointment Faculty

Dr. Muthanna Al-Dahhan

Curators' Distinguished Professor of Chemical & Biochemical Engineering

Research Interest

Reactor Engineering, Transport-Kinetic Integration, Advanced Measurement and Computational Techniques, Clean and Alternative Energy and Environment, Multiphase Reaction Engineering, and Advanced Measurement Techniques

Dr. Syed Alam (Syed Bahauddin Alam)

Assistant Professor, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Nuclear Plasma and Radiological Engineering

Research Interest

Multiscale & Multiple Modeling, digital twin, explainable and trustworthy AI, uncertainty quantification, robust optimization

Dr. Arezoo Emdadi

Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering

Research Interests

Computational Mechanics and Material Science, Applied Mathematics, Phase-Field Modeling (Crack Propagation, Solidification, Oxidation), Phase-Field Crystal Modeling, Finite Element Method, and Fracture Mechanics

Dr. Mina Esmaeelpour

Assistant Professor in Electrical Engineering

Research Interests

High-resolution displacement detection and instantaneous frequency detection, Photoacoustic gas sensing, Quantum entanglement in few-mode and multimode fibers,  and High-resolution ultrafast time-stretch spectroscope.

Dr. Charmayne Lonergan

Assistant Professor in Material Science Engineering

Dr. Jason Lonergan

Assistant Research Professor in Material Science and Engineering

Dr. John Gahl

Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Missouri-Columbia

Research Interest

Nuclear, plasma and beam science, Material science in extreme environments

Dr. Joseph Smith

Professor in Chemical & Biochemical Engineering and Laufer Endowed Energy Chair

Research Interest

Hybrid energy systems, Fuels combustion and gasification, Industrial gas flare design, operation, and regulation, Process modeling, monitoring, control, and operation, and Coal/biomass gasification

Dr. Haiming Wen

Assistant Professor in Material Science and Engineering

Research Interest

Development and fabrication of advanced materials such as bulk nanostructured alloys, high entropy alloys and bulk metallic glasses with dramatically improved mechanical properties and irradiation resistance than conventional materials, Microstructure characterization of materials using transmission electron microscopy and atom probe tomography, Mechanical behavior and deformation mechanisms of materials, Application of advanced materials in energy, transportation and defense, Nuclear fuels and structural materials designed for current and next generation nuclear reactors, and Irradiation effects in materials

Emeritus Professors

Dr. Arvind S. Kumar

Emeritus Professor

Research Interest

Nuclear materials, Radiation effects, Mechanical properties

Dr. Gary E. Mueller

Emeritus Associate Professor

Research Interest

Nuclear power safety, Particle bed heat transfer, Space nuclear power, Radioactive waste minimization, Packed bed characterization, Radial porosity, Analytical solutions, and Subatomic particle interactions

Staff

Angelica Hendrix Profile Picture

Angelica Hendrix

Office Support Assistant IV

Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science

 

Specialization:

Assistant to the department chair and reactor, day-to-day operation of the department, department budget, grants, payroll, travel authorizations, faculty travel, eRecruit, faculty, student, post doc and visiting scholar hiring, non-PO vouchers, undergraduate and graduate studies, departmental website, publications, textbook requests, course leaf, summer camp, experiential learning, senior assessment, undergraduate advisors, and department accreditations.

Ethan Taber

Reactor Manager

Missouri University of Science and Technology Reactor Facility (MSTR), Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science

 

Specialization:

Responsible for the day-to-day operation of the facility, including budget and staffing, maintenance and modifications, operations, operator training program, and laboratory class instruction Specialization: Computational neutron transport

Obeyda Al Muhaisen

Reactor Engineer

Missouri University of Science and Technology Reactor Facility (MSTR), Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science

 

CEC Fiscal Service Center

Anna Vroman

Senior Finance and Accounting Specialist

Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science Department, Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering Department

 

Specialization:

Manage department operating accounts and grants for two departments (1) Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science (2) Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering.