Nuclear Engineering Minor
General description of the minor
The Undergraduate Minor in Nuclear Engineering is comprised of 18 credits of which 12 credits are taken from a group of 4 required courses and the remaining 6 credits are overlapped with the senior capstone design experience in a nuclear related project or alternatively taken from supporting courses. All of the courses that comprise this minor are offered at the University of Rhode Island.
The course requirements for the Undergraduate Nuclear Engineering Minor are as follows.
Required courses (12 credits)
MCE 471/CHE 471, Nuclear Reactor Engineering
MCE 472/CHE 472, Power Plant Design and Safety Analysis
MCE 473/CHE 473, Nuclear Fuel Cycle
MCE 474/CHE 474, Reactor Thermal Hydraulics
Supporting courses
MCE 475/CHE 475, Nuclear Measurements
MCE 401/402 - Capstone Project (Nuclear related)
The four courses that are on the required list were selected to ensure that students who participate in this minor acquire a body of knowledge in the fundamentals of nuclear engineering. This body of knowledge is valuable to any student who pursues a career in nuclear power, and additionally allows students to then proceed to taking the more advanced courses or pursue a graduate nuclear engineering degree at another institution. The required courses ensure that all graduates of the nuclear engineering minor obtain a minimum body of knowledge in nuclear engineering that would allow them to apply their specialized field of engineering knowledge to nuclear-related applications such as nuclear plant and site construction, nuclear power plant operations and engineering, nuclear safety and radioactivity. The required courses also ensure that all graduates will have a strong foundation in the safety aspects of both nuclear radioactivity and power plant engineering and operations along with background knowledge of nuclear medicine, homeland security (detectors), and advanced reactor materials.
Nuclear Engineering Minor objectives: Provide a formal program of study for matriculated engineering students who are interested in nuclear careers or graduate education to enables them to acquire a fundamental knowledge of nuclear power engineering thus enabling them to pursue employment in any one of a number of fields associated with the construction, operation, or regulation of nuclear power generation; or continue into a graduate nuclear engineering program at another institution.
Program requirements and procedures, including:
- prerequisites for prospective students;
- advising of students;
Enrolled at University of Rhode Island as a matriculated student in the College of Engineering with a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5.
Advising of students will be combination of their respective advisors within their major department along with, in the case of the minor, Drs. Nassersharif and Knickle
Nuclear Engineering Minor Scholarships
The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission is providing grant funding for 10 scholarships of $2,500 each per semester for students who meet the following qualifications:
- Declare intent in completing the Nuclear Engineering Minor by completing the application form for US NRC-NEEPRI funded Scholarships
- Maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0
- Student must be taking at least one nuclear engineering course per semester towards the completion of a minor/option in nuclear engineering
- An application form will be available to apply for the scholarship
- The scholarships are $2500 per semester for four semesters
- Student must obtain a grade of B or better in the nuclear engineering courses to maintain the scholarship
Please contact Dr. Nassersharif for scholarship form and application process.
Program Coordinator
Dr. Bahram NassersharifDistinguished University Professor
Department of Mechanical, Industrial, and Systems Engineering
University of Rhode Island
214 Wales Hall, 92 Upper College Road
Kingston, RI 02881
401-874-9335 (phone)
E-mail: bn@uri.edu