Nuclear Engineering graduate students Mason Fox and Kyra Lawson each received a special recognition award for papers they submitted in the Innovations in Nuclear Energy Research and Development Student Competition (INSC).
The INSC is part of the US Department of Energy’s Nuclear Energy University Program. DOE announced the competition winners on June 11, 2025, with $33,000 in awards given to 14 students from 10 universities. The award package for Fox and Lawson includes a $2,500 honorarium.
“I’m grateful to be recognized for conducting innovative research and appreciate the support from my colleagues and mentors who helped strengthen this work,” Fox said. “This award is encouraging, and I look forward to continuing research efforts to improve reactor safety and performance.”
Fox’s paper discussed reactivity-initiated accidents in two pressurized water reactor high burnup core designs. Lawson’s paper involved the development of two-step method for fast chloride MSR Neutronics.
“I am very grateful to receive the INSC award. The DOE NE has played an instrumental role in my graduate research, and it is encouraging to have my work acknowledged by them,” Lawson said. “The award inspires me to continue progressing and publishing quality work.”
Fox and Lawson are both working with NE Professor Nick Brown. This is the third time that two of Brown’s students have received INSC awards in the same year.
“Congratulations to Kyra and Mason. I’m very proud of them for receiving this highly competitive national recognition,” Brown said. “They are following in the footsteps of previous PhD graduates from my group who were recognized by DOE-NE in 2020 (Dr. Jacob Gorton and Dr. Richard Hernandez) and 2021 (Dr. Robert Kile and Dr. Edward Duchnowski).”
Contact
Rhiannon Potkey (865-974-0683, rpotkey@utk.edu)