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Programs of Study, 1997-1999
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
NUCLEAR ENGINEERING
Head of the Department: Barclay G. Jones
Correspondence and Information: Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 214 Nuclear Engineering Laboratory, 103 South Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801-2984; (217) 333-3598. E-mail: nuclear@uiuc.edu
GRADUATE FACULTY
Professors: R. A. Axford, B. G. Jones, K. Kim, S. Landsberger, G. H. Miley, D. N. Ruzic, C. E. Singer, J. F. Stubbins, R. J. Turnbull
Associate Professor: M. Ragheb
Assistant Professors: B. J. Heuser, R. Udden, E. Wiener
GRADUATE DEGREE PROGRAMS
The Department of Nuclear Engineering offers work leading to master of science and doctor of philosophy degrees.
ADMISSION
Application for admission to the M.S. and Ph.D. programs is open to all graduates in engineering, mathematics, and the physical sciences with an average grade of B or better for the last 60 hours of undergraduate work and any graduate work completed. Prerequisites for admission include a course in ordinary differential equations plus one other mathematics course beyond calculus; an intermediate course in atomic physics; a course in electrical circuit theory; a course in thermodynamics; and a course either in fluid mechanics or in continuum mechanics. A student may be admitted before completion of these prerequisites, but he or she must allow additional time for making up these deficiencies; courses taken to make up such deficiencies will not count toward the number of units required for the degree. Transcripts are required; letters of recommendation and information such as undergraduate class rank are recommended. International students must demonstrate proficiency in English, as measured by the TOEFL and SPEAK (Speaking Proficiency English Assessment Kit) tests, with minimum scores of 570 and 230, respectively. They may be required to take courses in English as a second language, as determined by English placement tests taken on campus.
MASTER OF SCIENCE
The M.S. degree takes at least two semesters and a summer session to complete and normally takes three semesters and a summer session; eight units of graduate work are required, including an M.S. thesis. The curriculum requires courses covering the fundamentals of nuclear engineering, plus two or more courses in an area of concentration chosen by the student in consultation with an adviser. Typical areas include fission systems, fusion systems, reactor physics, plasma physics, radiation transport, nuclear materials, reactor thermal hydraulics, reactor safety, neutron activation analysis, radioactive waste management, health physics, radiation protection, neutron capture therapy, and computational methods.
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Course requirements for the Ph.D. degree include at least eight units of course credit beyond that required for the M.S. degree. In addition, eight or more units of doctoral thesis credit are required and typically take one or more years to complete. Students desiring to work toward the Ph.D. degree must pass the qualifying examination to be admitted to doctoral study. The doctoral candidate must complete course work, pass a preliminary doctoral examination, write a doctoral thesis, and successfully defend the thesis at a final examination. A doctoral student typically takes several courses in nuclear engineering plus additional courses that support a specialized research area and/or provide background in mathematics and science and that satisfy a minor in a related discipline. There is no foreign language requirement. Under exceptional circumstances and by approved petition, doctoral research may be undertaken off campus.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Faculty research interests cover a wide range including, but not limited to, those listed above under the master of science section. Faculty in other related fields are available to supervise research for students through formal "affiliate faculty" appointments.
FACILITIES
Several major facilities are available for nuclear engineering research. The versatile Illinois Advanced TRIGA reactor operates at 1.5 megawatts steady state and pulses to 6,000 megawatts peak power. A subcritical facility, adjacent to the TRIGA, provides unique coupled-core experimental capabilities. A dense plasma focus fusion-related device for high-temperature plasma studies and an ultrahigh-vacuum laboratory for plasma-material interaction studies are available. The College of Engineering's Materials Research Laboratory and Materials Engineering-Mechanical Behavior program provide a variety of facilities for studies of nuclear materials. Other laboratories are also available for environmental studies and nuclear spectroscopy; health physics and radiation studies; nuclear waste management; thermal hydraulics and reactor safety; reactor physics and reactor kinetics; controlled nuclear fusion; direct energy conversion; lasers and plasma physics; magnetic resonance imaging; and neutron activation analysis. The College of Engineering is a leader in supercomputer research, and the campus houses one of the National Centers for Supercomputing Applications. The Department of Nuclear Engineering also has a direct link to the National Magnetic Fusion Computer Center in Livermore, California. In addition, microcomputers are available for student use and are integrated into laboratory courses and for data acquisition. The department is also a participating member of the Computational Science and Engineering Program.
FINANCIAL AID
Fellowships and traineeships are generally available to support the best applicants. Aid in the form of research assistantships and teaching assistantships is available on a competitive basis for most other graduate students. Other work of a professional nature can sometimes be found in the University or surrounding community. If the number of students is more than the department can assist financially, support is awarded according to academic merit.
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