As from July 1st, 2019 Prof. Allain moved to Penn State University where he leads the Ken and Mary Alice Lindquist Department of Nuclear Engineering and the Radiation Surface Science and Engineering Lab (RSSEL). Prof. Allain maintains an appointment at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as an Adjunct Professor.
Visit the new website at www.rssel.psu.edu
Effective July 1, 2019, Prof. Allain will lead the recently established Ken and Mary Alice Lindquist Department of Nuclear Engineering at Pennsylvania State University. The nuclear engineering program had been a part of the Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering since 1999, and prior to this date it had been a standalone nuclear engineering department since its founding in fall 1959.
The department houses the Breazeale Nuclear Reactor, the country’s first and longest operating licensed nuclear reactor and offers four educational programs for students pursuing a bachelor of science, a master of science, a master of engineering or a doctoral degree. Read Nuclear Engineering History at Penn State.
Prof. Allain has been invited to participate in the Materials Plasma Exposure eXperiment (MPEX) Conceptual Design Review Committee at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. MPEX explores plasma-material interactions under conditions similar to those on the surface of the sun in the search for materials that can withstand the extreme environment inside advanced fusion research facilities and fusion power reactors. The steady-state linear plasma device will enable scientists to study the characteristics of both fusion plasma and materials that have been exposed to the plasma.
Prof. Allain visited this week the DIII-D Facility, operated by General Atomics for the U.S. Department of Energy, in San Diego, CA. Prof. Allain was invited to participate on the DIII-D Program Advisory Committee (PAC). The PAC is an important element of the DIII-D program, informing both near-term and longer-range program planning. The DIII-D Facility is a world-class laboratory containing the DIII-D tokamak, that explores a wide range of topics from fundamental plasma science to how future fusion power plants will work.
On February 8th, 2019 Colombia’s government launched the think tank “Mision Internacional de Sabios” consisting of 43 experts from different countries and areas of expertise in eight thematic areas identified as a priority for spurring Colombia’s development. This group has been tasked by President Duque to chart the course for Colombia’s development in the areas of science, technology and innovation, setting out a road map for Colombia’s next National Development Plan and 25 year vision.
Professor Allain, who was appointed U.S. Fulbright Scholar to Colombia and recipient of the 2015 Fulbright-Colciencias Innovation and Technology Award, has been chosen to join this group of experts and is one of four members to lead the theme of Convergent Technologies: nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology and cognitive science.
The recommendations that emerge from this initiative will be consolidated into a single document with the goal of contributing to Colombia’s sustainable and inclusive development. Link to full press release in English.
Congratulations to RSSEL’s graduate student Eric Lang who obtained First Place Best Paper Award during the American Nuclear Society’s Fusion Energy Division award ceremony for his paper titled “Pre-irradiation comparison of W-based alloys for the PHENIX campaign: microstructure, composition, and mechanical properties” presented at the 2018 ANS Winter Meeting & Expo in Orlando, Florida.
Congratulations to Brandon Holybee for successfully defending his thesis titled “Deciphering the role of surface composition and topography in self-organized ion-induced nanopatterning of multicomponent semiconductors with in-situ and in-operando metrology” this fall. Brandon has accepted a position starting this winter at Intel Corporation’s Components Research, the research arm for Intel’s Technology and Manufacturing Group. Best of luck to Brandon from all RSSEL members!
Professor Allain has been selected for the 2018 Fusion Energy Division Technical Accomplishment Award. The biennial award is a recognition from the American Nuclear Society for a specific exemplary individual technical accomplishment requiring professional excellence and leadership of a high caliber in the fusion science and engineering area.
Prof. Allain is the first University of Illinois faculty member chosen for this honor, cited for “pioneering work on in-situ plasma-material interaction diagnostics and surface chemistry in nuclear fusion devices”. The award will be presented at the 23rd Topical Meeting on the Technology of Fusion Energy in Orlando, Florida. Read the full story on NPRE Illinois News at the following link.