UF Nuclear Engineering Program
Nuclear Engineering at UF
At the University of Florida, we’re developing the next generation of nuclear engineering leaders by performing high-impact research and providing exceptional educational programs. We build on our unique strength as a department by combining the disciplines of both nuclear engineering and materials science and engineering to benefit society locally, nationally and globally.
Nuclear Engineering Faculty
Ph.D., 2012, Texas A&M University
Research Interests: Nuclear Fuels and Materials with emphasis on characterization and property evaluation; Mechanical and Thermal properties of materials; Reactor Irradiation; Radiation damage in materials; Ion Implantation; Kinetics; Composites; Nanostructured materials; Multi-Scale simulation of nuclear fuel.
Lab Website: Materials for Nuclear Advancement and Technology in Extreme Environments (MANATEE) Group
Research Interests: Nuclear Security and Detection, Electronic Materials, Non-Destructive Examination, Radiation Imaging; applied aspects of cargo monitoring, detector testing and characterization for gamma-ray spectroscopy, and development and analysis of techniques for environmental sampling and surveys related to on-site inspections.
Ph.D., 2010, Chalmers, University of Technology, Sweden
Research Interests: Nuclear Security and Detection, Nuclear Fuels and Materials, Reactor Physics and Thermal Hydraulics, Nuclear Fusion, Machine Learning and AI, Engineering Education
Lab Website: Enqvist Research Group
Ph.D., 2018, University of Florida
Research Interests: Engineering education, Computational Modeling and simulation; Monte Carlo methods, nuclear policy, workforce development
Ph.D., 2008, University of California San Diego
Research Interests: Nuclear Fusion, Computational Modeling and Simulation, Machine Learning and AI; Computational plasma physics, magnetic fusion, tokamak disruptions, scientific machine learning, plasma-material interaction.
Lab Website: McDevitt Lab
Ph.D., 2015, Idaho State University
Research Interests: Reactor Physics, Radiation Imaging, Monte-Carlo Methods, Pre- and Post-Irradiation Analysis, Radiation Detection
Ph.D., 2009, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Research Interests: Two-phase flow, nuclear reactor thermal hydraulics, quantitative visualization, nuclear reactor safety, computational and numerical methods including coupled codes, advanced nuclear power systems
Research interests: Computational Materials Science, Materials in Harsh Environments, Nuclear Materials, Reactor Kinetics and Dynamics, Neutronics, Thermal Hydraulics, Multiphysics Simulation, Advanced Numerical Methods, Advanced Code Coupling Techniques, High Performance Computing, Astronuclear Systems
Ph.D., 2008, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Research Interests: Computational Modeling and Simulation, Nuclear Fuels and Materials, Ceramics, Electronic Materials, Energy Materials, Machine Learning and AI, Materials Processing, Metallurgy, Nanomaterials, Nuclear Security and Detection, Radiochemistry
Lab Website: Tonks Research Group
Ph.D. 2001, Florida State University
Research Interests: Radiochemistry, Nuclear Fuels and Materials, Engineering Education, Nuclear Security and Detection
Ph.D., 1993, University of Paris, XI
Research Interests: Radiochemistry, Nuclear Security and Detection, Nuclear Fuels and Materials, Energy Materials, Nanomaterials
Lab Website: Wall Research
Ph.D., 2010, Penn State University
Research Interests: Reactor Physics and Thermal Hydraulics, Computational Modeling and Simulation; Reactor Kinetics and Dynamics, Neutronics, Thermal Hydraulics, Multiphysics Simulation, Advanced Numerical Methods, Applied Mathematics, Advanced Code Coupling Techniques, Scientific Software Development, High-Performance Computing
Lab Website: Florida Advanced Multiphysics Modeling and Simulation (FAMMoS) Lab
Ph. D., 2005, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Research Interests: Nuclear Fuels and Materials, Advanced Materials Characterization, Metallurgy, Machine Learning and AI, Materials Processing; structural and fuel materials for nuclear energy systems; LWRs sustainability and aging management, advanced fabrication and joining technologies, used fuel dry storage and disposition.
Lab Website: Nuclear Materials Degradation Research Group (NuMad)
Nuclear Engineering Program News
- Nuclear Engineering’s Justin Borrero earns international research award
Justin Borrero, a Ph.D. candidate in nuclear engineering, has won the 2026 Barbara Stull Graduate Student Award from the Society of Applied Spectroscopy, known as SAS. - MSE Chair Tonks awarded American Nuclear Society Fellowship
Materials science professor Michael Tonks was elected a fellow of the American Nuclear Society, one of the organization’s highest honors recognizing significant contributions to nuclear science and technology. - How space-based sensors can detect nuclear activity
Researchers at the University of Florida are developing advanced technologies to detect nuclear activity from space. - Nuclear engineering doctoral student named Rickover Fellow
Nuclear engineering doctoral student Rachel Rigsby recently became a fellow of the Rickover Fellowship Program in Nuclear Engineering, a program sponsored by the Naval Reactors Division of the U.S. Department of Energy.