Nuclear Engineering Program
Welcome to the University of Florida Nuclear Engineering Program home page. Housed within the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering’s Department of Materials Science & Engineering, the program offers students an opportunity to work on research teams related to backscatter radiation, extreme environments testing and nuclear fuel cycles. Students also conduct research alongside academics and in partnership with national labs and government agencies, including Idaho National Laboratory and the U.S. Department of Energy.
At UF, 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.
Faculty Research Areas
Nuclear technology and research contribute in multiple ways to our health, development and safety. You may not realize it, but it's utilized across nearly all aspects of our lives and community, from clean energy production to medicine to agriculture.
Find Out More Nuclear Engineering ProgramResearch Facilities
The Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering’s Research Service Centers support and enhance the research, education, and public service missions of the University of Florida by providing access to characterization and process instrumentation.
Find Out More Nuclear Engineering ProgramWhy Nuclear Engineering at UF?
At UF, we’re developing the next generation of nuclear engineering leaders by performing high-impact research and providing exceptional educational programs.
Find Out More Nuclear Engineering ProgramFaculty Research Areas
Nuclear technology and research contribute in multiple ways to our health, development and safety. You may not realize it, but it's utilized across nearly all aspects of our lives and community, from clean energy production to medicine to agriculture.
Find Out MoreNuclear Engineering ProgramNuclear 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: Applied aspects of cargo monitoring, detector testing and characterization for gamma-ray spectroscopy, as well as development and analysis of techniques for environmental sampling and surveys related to on-site inspections.
Ph. D. Chalmers, University of Technology, Sweden
Research Interests: Nuclear safeguards, detection statistics of radiation from fissile materials, and the physics behind particle-detector interactions. Neutron physics & detectors. Neutron noise signals. Radiation signal analysis
Lab Website: Enqvist Research Group
Ph.D., 2018, University of Florida
Research Interests: Monte Carlo methods; neutron transport; nuclear safeguards and nonproliferation
Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University
Research Interests: Remote Sensing, Nuclear Nonproliferation/counterproliferation, Nuclear Security, and Nuclear Policy
Lab Website: Hartig Research Group
Ph.D., 2008, University of California San Diego
Research Interests: Computational and Theoretical Plasma Physics, Magnetic and Inertial Confinement Fusion, Plasma Turbulence, Momentum Transport, Runaway Electrons, Monte Carlo Methods
Lab Website: McDevitt Lab
Ph.D., 2015, Idaho State University
Research Interests: Reactor Physics Experiments, Non-destructive radiation imaging, Monte-Carlo Methods, Pre and Post Irradiation Analysis, Medical Imaging, 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
Ph.D., 2008, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Research Interests: Computational materials science, Computational mechanics, Coevolution of microstructure and properties, Materials in Harsh Environments, Mesoscale modeling and simulation, Nuclear materials, Numerical methods
Lab Website: Tonks Research Group
Ph.D., 1993, University of Paris, XI
Research Interests: Radiochemistry, Nuclear Wastes, Nuclear Forensics, Nuclear Fuel Cycle, Environmental Behavior of Radionuclides
Lab Website: Wall Research
Ph.D., 2010, Penn State University
Research Interests: 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: 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: MAterials for Nuclear Advancement and Technology in Extreme Environments (MANATEE) Group
Other Nuclear Engineering Program News
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Top-tier Excellence: UF MSE and NE Graduate Programs Continue to Shine Among the Best in the Nation
04/28/2023
The UF Department of Materials Science & Engineering (MSE) and the UF Nuclear Engineering Program (NE), housed within the department, continue their stay among the best-ranked graduate school programs at public universities in the U.S.
The 2024 U.S. News & World Report Best Graduate Schools rankings among U.S. public universities place the MSE graduate program at ... -
Assel Aitkaliyeva Selected as UF Doctoral Dissertation Advisor/Mentor Award Winner
02/03/2023
Congratulations to Assel Aitkaliyeva, Ph.D., recipient of the 2022-2023 Doctoral Dissertation Advisor/Mentoring Award from the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering. Dr. Aitkaliyeva is an associate professor in the Nuclear Engineering Program housed within the Department of Materials Science & Engineering.
“Advising and mentoring graduate students, from recruiting and guiding them through the first challenging year of ... -
Nuclear sleuths: University of Florida to Lead $25 million National Consortium on Nuclear Forensics
02/03/2023
Nuclear sleuths: University of Florida to Lead $25 million National Consortium on Nuclear Forensics -
UF Engineering Collaboration Aims to Add Decades of Safe, Clean Energy Production to U.S. Nuclear Reactors
07/27/2022
Engineers from UF’s Department of Materials Science & Engineering (MSE) and the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) are collaborating on research investigating neutron irradiation-induced embrittlement in nuclear reactor pressure vessels.
Douglas Spearot, Ph.D., professor of MAE and principal investigator, and Assel Aitkaliyeva, Ph.D., associate professor of MSE, are part of the $800,000 study. Along ... -
Andrew, Aitkaliyeva Receive Promotions
06/30/2022
Jennifer Andrew, Ph.D., has been promoted to full professor, and Assel Aitkaliyeva, Ph.D., has been promoted to Associate Professor with tenure.
Dr. Andrew received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara and her B.S. from Northwestern University, both in Materials Science and Engineering. She joined the University of Florida in 2011 following a postdoctoral ... -
2022 Society for Applied Spectroscopy Award Winner: Emily Kwapis
04/18/2022
Nuclear Engineering student Emily Kwapis Wins the 2022 Atomic Section Student Award
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2022 Attributes of a Gator Engineer Award Winner: Kaylee Cunningham
04/18/2022
Nuclear Engineering student Kaylee Cunningham wins the 2021-2022 Dean Joseph Weil Engineering Leadership Award
Check out the Attributes of a Gator Engineer page for more info! -
UF MSE and NE Graduate Programs Again Rank Among the Best
04/14/2022
The UF Department of Materials Science & Engineering (MSE) and Nuclear Engineering Program (NE), housed within the department, are once again ranked among the best graduate school programs at public universities in the U.S.
According to the 2023 U.S. News & World Report Best Graduate Schools Ranking, the MSE graduate program rose one spot to No. ... -
2021-2022 Departmental Scholarship Winners
04/08/2022
There are countless reasons why a student might need financial aid. Books, tuition, rent, food – the expenses add up quickly, so these scholarships and awards can make a considerable difference for the students who receive them. While academic awards come in a variety of shapes and sizes, each one helps provide valuable support to ... -
Kaylee Cunningham Wins NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
04/04/2022
Congratulations to Nuclear Engineering student Kaylee Cunningham for earning a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship