Development of an Undergraduate Minor Concentration in Nuclear Fission Power Engineering (EEC-Small Grants for Exploratory Research)

计划拨款（SGER）旨在开发核裂变动力工程的国家课程，作为传统工程学位专业本科生的辅修课程，以证书为基础。随着核能作为国家能源组合的关键组成部分重新引起人们的兴趣，鉴于过去二十年来大学核工程项目和设施的严重侵蚀，人们越来越担心受过核技术培训的工程师的可用性。即使有了新资源的快速注入，重建必要的院系和设施以及激发学生兴趣所需要的时间使得传统的核工程项目不太可能提供足够的毕业生来满足工业和联邦政府的近期需求。我们建议组建一支由全国领先的核工程专业的教师组成的团队，发展核裂变动力工程的辅修专业，以便学院和大学为传统的本科工程学位课程（如机械工程、电气工程、化学工程、工业工程、材料科学与工程和计算机工程）的学生提供专业。这一努力将在短期内增加核工程毕业生，并在长期内补充核工程专业的增长。这门多课程的核电课程将包括在本科专业三年级和四年级之间进行的暑期实习，其中包括丰富的实验室经验（可能是在地区大学的反应堆设施或国家实验室）。这一建议的核能辅修课程将得到广泛的计算机和网络资源的支持，包括核代码模拟包、门户网站和校内和校外远程教育的技术强化学习。我们相信，这样一个项目有潜力迅速扩大能够为我们国家的核能项目做出贡献的工程师和科学家的生产，因为它将吸引大量工程和科学专业的骨干，而不是小规模的核工程学位项目。事实上，工业界长期以来一直表示有兴趣雇用在机械工程、电气工程和计算机工程等一般工程专业受过更广泛训练的核工程师。此外，这种方法对大学特别有吸引力，因为它将使它们能够满足国家对核能日益增长的需求，而不需要大规模扩建现有的核工程教师或设施（在当前的预算环境下，无论如何都不太可能）。该计划将被设计为高度可移植性，并且由于拟议计划的内容和支持都将由来自全国领先核工程项目的教师团队提供，单个机构将不必投入额外的资源来建立新的能力。特别是，这项工作将打算生产教学工具，如课程资源、基于网络的讲座和软件模拟，这些工具可以在没有核工程教师的机构中使用。此外，这一努力可以作为工程教育的一个有用的模式，以解决在其他高度专业化领域（如集成制造、纳米技术、量子工程和生物技术）受过培训的工程师的需求。本科辅修课程可以让学生为这些领域的职业生涯做准备，而不会牺牲传统学位课程提供的更广泛的教育经验（和市场机会）。此外，通过利用某一专业的国家领导小组为辅修专业编制课程和辅助材料，学院和大学可以提供这种专业课程，而无需对新的教员和设施进行大量额外投资。事实上，我们提出的模型可能很好地代表了工程教育的未来，因为技术知识继续分裂成子学科专业，大学面临着越来越多的师资和设施资源限制。

A planning grant (SGER) is sought to develop a national curriculum in nuclear fission power engineering that would serve as a certificate-based, minor concentration for undergraduate students majoring in traditional engineering degree programs. With the renewed interest in nuclear power as a key component of the nations energy portfolio, there is growing concern about the availability of engineers trained in nuclear technology in view of the very significant erosion in university nuclear engineering programs and facilities over the past two decades. Even with a rapid infusion of new resources, the time required to rebuild thenecessary faculties and facilities and stimulate student interest makes it highly unlikely that conventional nuclear engineering programs can provide a flow of graduates adequate to meet the near-term needs of industry and the federal government.We propose to form a team of faculty members drawn from the leading nuclear engineering programs in the nation to develop a minor concentration in nuclear fission power engineering that colleges and universities could offer to students enrolled in conventional undergraduate engineering degree programs (e.g., mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, chemical engineering, industrial engineering, materials science and engineering, and computer engineering). This effort would augment nuclear engineering graduates in the near-term and supplement the growth of nuclear engineering majors in the long-term. Thismultiple-course nuclear power curriculum would include a summer practicum involving extensive laboratory experience (perhaps at a regional university reactor facility or national laboratory) taken between the junior and senior years of the undergraduate major. This proposed nuclear-power minor curriculum would be supported by extensive computer and network resources,including nuclear code simulation packages, web portals, and technology enhanced learning for on-campus and off-campus distance education.We believe that such a program has the potential for rapidly expanding the production of engineers and scientists capable of contributing to our nations nuclear energy programs since it would draw from the large cadre of engineering and science majors rather than the small enrollments of nuclear engineering degree programs. In fact, industry has long expressed interest in hiring nuclear engineers more broadly trained in general engineering majors such as mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and computer engineering. Furthermore, this approach is particularly attractive to universities since it would allow them to respond to growing national needs in nuclear energy without the necessity of major expansion of existingnuclear engineering faculty or facilities (unlikely in the current budget climate in any event). The program would be designed to be highly transportable, and since both the content and support of the proposed program would be provided by a team of faculty members drawn from leading nuclear engineering programs across the nation, individual institutions would not have to commit additional resources to build new capabilities. In particular, this effort would intends to produce teaching tools such as course resources, web-based lectures, and software simulations that could be used at institutions that do not have access to nuclear engineering faculty.Moreover, this effort could serve as a useful model in engineering education for addressing the need for engineers trained in other highly specialized areas such as integrated manufacturing, nanotechnology, quantum engineering, and biotechnology. An undergraduate minor concentration would allow students to prepare for careers in these fields without sacrificing the broader educational experience (and market opportunities) provided by a more conventional degree program. Furthermore, by developing a curriculum and supporting materials for a minor concentration using a team of national leaders in the given specialty, colleges and universities could offer such specialized curricula without significant additional investments innew faculty and facilities. In fact, the model we propose may well represent the future of engineering education as technical knowledge continues to fragment into subdisciplinary specialties and universities face growing constraints on resources forfaculty and facilities.