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

核裂变动力工程本科辅修专业的发展（EEC-探索性研究小额资助）

• 批准号: 0129712
• 负责人: James Duderstadt
• 金额: $ 10万
• 依托单位: Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2001
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2001-09-01 至 2003-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0129712&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Development; Undergraduate; Minor; Concentration; Nuclear

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.

一个规划补助金（SGER）寻求开发一个国家课程，在核裂变动力工程，将作为一个基于证书的，未成年人的浓度为本科生主修传统的工程学位课程。随着人们对核能作为国家能源组合的一个关键组成部分重新产生兴趣，鉴于过去二十年来大学核工程课程和设施的严重侵蚀，人们越来越关注核技术培训工程师的可用性。即使新资源迅速注入，重建必要的院系和设施以及激发学生的兴趣所需的时间使得传统的核工程课程极不可能提供足够的毕业生来满足近几年的需求。工业和联邦政府的长期需求。我们建议组建一个由来自全国领先的核工程项目的教师组成的团队，学院和大学可以向参加传统本科工程学位课程的学生提供的核裂变动力工程的浓度（例如，机械工程、电气工程、化学工程、工业工程、材料科学和工程以及计算机工程）。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。这多门课程的核电课程将包括夏季实习，涉及广泛的实验室经验（也许在一个地区大学的反应堆设施或国家实验室）之间采取的大三和大四的本科专业。这一拟议的核电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，和技术增强学习的校内和校外，我们相信，这样一个项目有潜力迅速扩大工程师和科学家的生产，能够为我们国家的核能计划作出贡献，因为它将吸引大量的骨干，工程和科学专业，而不是核工程学位课程的小招生。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接受过更广泛培训的核工程师。此外，这种方法对大学特别有吸引力，因为它使大学能够满足国家对核能日益增长的需求，而不必大规模扩大现有的核工程学院或设施（在目前的预算环境下无论如何都不可能）。该计划将被设计为高度可移植的，由于拟议计划的内容和支持将由来自全国领先的核工程计划的教师团队提供，个别机构将不必承诺额外的资源来建立新的能力。特别是，这项工作将旨在制作教学工具，如课程资源，基于网络的讲座，以及软件模拟，可以在没有核工程教师的机构中使用。此外，这项工作可以作为工程教育的有用模式，以满足对集成制造，纳米技术，量子工程，和生物技术。本科未成年人的浓度将允许学生在这些领域的职业生涯做好准备，而不会牺牲更传统的学位课程提供的更广泛的教育经验（和市场机会）。此外，通过利用特定专业的国家领导人团队为次要集中制定课程和辅助材料，学院和大学可以提供此类专业课程，而无需对新的教师和设施进行大量额外投资。事实上，我们提出的模型很可能代表了工程教育的未来，因为技术知识继续分裂成亚学科专业，大学面临着教师和设施资源的日益限制。