The Department of Nuclear Engineering welcomes Nicholas Brown to the faculty as an associate professor. Brown joins UT after two years at Penn State and has degrees from the University of New Mexico and Purdue.
“Dr. Brown is a proven researcher with experience at multiple national laboratories and most recently at Penn State University,” said Department Head Wes Hines. “He is clearly one of the most outstanding and sought after young professors of his generation and we are fortunate that he chose to join our team”
Prior to his time at Penn State, Brown worked at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). His research focus includes reactor safety and nuclear fuel safety as well as advanced reactor analysis and design. Specifically, his research aims to address challenges that are a result of aging nuclear infrastructure and expand the missions of nuclear energy. He is also committed to finding ways to reduce the burden of nuclear waste for future generations.
Brown, who has lived all over the country, says he enjoys Tennessee the most and is happy to be joining the faculty of a top-ranked program.
“UT has a strong nuclear engineering program with impactful researchers, and the future is even brighter,” he said.
The proximity to ORNL is a big asset for Brown’s group, whose graduate students are almost all doing thesis or dissertation work in collaboration with national laboratories. In addition to ORNL, his group also has collaborations with Argonne National Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory, and BNL.