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The Impact of NPG 7120.5A Upon Training and Development

NASA Procedures and Guidance 7120.5A for Program and Project Management Processes and Requirements should have minimal effect upon current Agency training and development programs - mainly because the new directive simply formalizes what we have been teaching and learning in the NASA Program/Project Management Initiative all along. A frequent complaint we get from the 8,000 or so graduates of our PPMI courses over the years, however, deals with resistance to what they may have learned in the classroom or training site. Brimming with new ideas, these young men and women often run up against an entrenched program or project manager who insists that things be done "the old way," too often perceived as "the NASA way" or even "the Goddard way." Management was all too often in the eyes of the manager; now we're all reading from the same book, 7120.5A, Still, there is no single method or "one size fits all" approach to project management in NASA. While each Center is responsible for developing policies, processes and procedures to comply with the new NPG, individual program and project managers will still need to tailor their requirements to the specific needs of the project, consistent with the size, complexity, risk and criticality of the project. Under NPG 7120.5A, the results of such tailoring are to be documented in agreements among managers, directors, Enterprise Associate Administrators and the Administrator.

Hoffman, Edward J.↗

Probabilistic Structural Analysis and Reliability Using NESSUS With Implemented Material Strength Degradation Model

This project included both research and education objectives. The goal of this project was to advance innovative research and education objectives in theoretical and computational probabilistic structural analysis, reliability, and life prediction for improved reliability and safety of structural components of aerospace and aircraft propulsion systems. Research and education partners included Glenn Research Center (GRC) and Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) along with the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). SwRI enhanced the NESSUS (Numerical Evaluation of Stochastic Structures Under Stress) code and provided consulting support for NESSUS-related activities at UTSA. NASA funding supported three undergraduate students, two graduate students, a summer course instructor and the Principal Investigator. Matching funds from UTSA provided for the purchase of additional equipment for the enhancement of the Advanced Interactive Computational SGI Lab established during the first year of this Partnership Award to conduct the probabilistic finite element summer courses. The research portion of this report presents the cumulation of work performed through the use of the probabilistic finite element program, NESSUS, Numerical Evaluation and Structures Under Stress, and an embedded Material Strength Degradation (MSD) model. Probabilistic structural analysis provided for quantification of uncertainties associated with the design, thus enabling increased system performance and reliability. The structure examined was a Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) fuel turbopump blade. The blade material analyzed was Inconel 718, since the MSD model was previously calibrated for this material. Reliability analysis encompassing the effects of high temperature and high cycle fatigue, yielded a reliability value of 0.99978 using a fully correlated random field for the blade thickness. The reliability did not change significantly for a change in distribution type except for a change in distribution from Gaussian to Weibull for the centrifugal load. The sensitivity factors determined to be most dominant were the centrifugal loading and the initial strength of the material. These two sensitivity factors were influenced most by a change in distribution type from Gaussian to Weibull. The education portion of this report describes short-term and long-term educational objectives. Such objectives serve to integrate research and education components of this project resulting in opportunities for ethnic minority students, principally Hispanic. The primary vehicle to facilitate such integration was the teaching of two probabilistic finite element method courses to undergraduate engineering students in the summers of 1998 and 1999.

Bast, Callie C.↗

University Engagement at INL

There are currently over 900 facilities in over 170 countries which fall under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards. As additional nations look to purse civilian nuclear programs or to expand infrastructure already in place, the number of reactors and accompanying facilities as well as the quantity of material has greatly increased. Due to the breadth of the threat and the burden placed on the IAEA as nuclear applications expand, it has become increasingly important that safeguards professionals have a strong understanding of both the technical and political aspects of nonproliferation starting early in their career. To begin overcoming this challenge, Idaho National Laboratory, has partnered with local universities to deliver a graduate level nuclear engineering course that covers both aspects of the field with a focus on safeguards applications. To date over 60 students across multiple disciplines have participated in this course with many deciding to transition into a nonproliferation area of focus in both their academic and professional careers.

Safeguards↗

Methods of training the graduate level and professional geologist in remote sensing technology

Requirements for a basic course in remote sensing to accommodate the needs of the graduate level and professional geologist are described. The course should stress the general topics of basic remote sensing theory, the theory and data types relating to different remote sensing systems, an introduction to the basic concepts of computer image processing and analysis, the characteristics of different data types, the development of methods for geological interpretations, the integration of all scales and data types of remote sensing in a given study, the integration of other data bases (geophysical and geochemical) into a remote sensing study, and geological remote sensing applications. The laboratories should stress hands on experience to reinforce the concepts and procedures presented in the lecture. The geologist should then be encouraged to pursue a second course in computer image processing and analysis of remotely sensed data.

Kolm, K. E.↗

Southwestern United States Carbon Sequestration Training Center

The Southwest CO 2 Training Center was initiated in November 2009 in response to the need to develop a generation of workers with expertise in carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS). Three universities ran the Training Center cooperatively: New Mexico Tech, the University of Utah and Texas A&M University. The overall approach of the Training Center was to conduct education and outreach at a wide range of educational levels, including K-12 students and teachers, undergraduate and graduate students, professionals, and the general public. Key activities included: (1) Outreach targeted development of a video game (Carbon Bond) for middle-school students. (2) A summer program for high-school students. (3) Training for K-12 educators in Utah with a program by the Keystone center on “the Climate Status” and two offerings of a Masters of Science Teaching class at New Mexico Tech (NMT) on Climate and Carbon Sequestration. (3) Development and approval of an undergraduate curriculum for a concentration in CCUS for geology majors offered at the Earth and Environmental Science Department at NMT. This included a new course in Carbon Sequestration Science and a field course in Reservoir and Caprock Geology. (4) A new graduate-level course in CCUS was developed and offered via distance education to students at the University of Utah (U of U), NMT and the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). (5) Professional training via a reservoir modeling class, opening up the university courses to professionals, and conducting three webinars on outreach and public perception in CCUS. Overall we offered 60 CEU credits and 2,598 hours of professional training. A business plan was developed to continue the Training Center's CCUS education into the future. This involves a collaborative agreement with Schlumberger Carbon Services using the expertise and on-line materials developed by the Training Center for a commercial professional development website.

Lee, Robert↗

MO-DE-BRA-02: SIMAC: A Simulation Tool for Teaching Linear Accelerator Physics

Purpose: The first goal of this work is to develop software that can simulate the physics of linear accelerators (linac). The second goal is to show that this simulation tool is effective in teaching linac physics to medical physicists and linac service engineers. Methods: Linacs were modeled using analytical expressions that can correctly describe the physical response of a linac to parameter changes in real time. These expressions were programmed with a graphical user interface in order to produce an environment similar to that of linac service mode. The software, “SIMAC”, has been used as a learning aid in a professional development course 3 times (2014 – 2016) as well as in a physics graduate program. Exercises were developed to supplement the didactic components of the courses consisting of activites designed to reinforce the concepts of beam loading; the effect of steering coil currents on beam symmetry; and the relationship between beam energy and flatness. Results: SIMAC was used to teach 35 professionals (medical physicists; regulators; service engineers; 1 week course) as well as 20 graduate students (1 month project). In the student evaluations, 85% of the students rated the effectiveness of SIMAC as very good or outstanding, and 70% rated the software as the most effective part of the courses. Exercise results were collected showing that 100% of the students were able to use the software correctly. In exercises involving gross changes to linac operating points (i.e. energy changes) the majority of students were able to correctly perform these beam adjustments. Conclusion: Software simulation(SIMAC), can be used to effectively teach linac physics. In short courses, students were able to correctly make gross parameter adjustments that typically require much longer training times using conventional training methods.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Creative inventive design and research

This paper is a summary of a course given at the Goddard Space Flight Center for graduate engineers entitled 'Creative Inventive Design and Research.' This course strikes at the heart of the problem as it describes the thinking process itself before it goes deeper into the design process as a structured method for performing creative design. Many problem examples and figures are presented in a form that should make clear to all students what this process is and how it can be used.

Kerley, James J.↗

AMS/DOE Fellowship Recipients

The AMS/DOE graduate fellowships were awarded to three students entering their first year of graduate study. The funds allowed each student to take a full course load during their first of year of graduate study which helps each of them to enter the professional, scientific community at an earlier date. Each recipient is academically outstanding, received glowing references of support and demonstrated their strong desire to perform scientific research. As part of the fellowship, each of the students was invited to attend the AMS Annual Meeting where they got to participate in the AMS student conference, attend scientific sessions and visit the exhibition hall. In addition, a student awards luncheon was held where each of the recipients got to meet their sponsor and receive a certificate.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

NASA's new university engineering space research programs

The objective of a newly emerging element of NASA's university engineering programs is to provide a more autonomous element that will enhance and broaden the capabilities in academia, enabling them to participate more effectively in the U.S. civil space program. The programs utilize technical monitors at NASA centers to foster collaborative arrangements, exchange of personnel, and the sharing of facilities between NASA and the universities. The elements include: the university advanced space design program, which funds advanced systems study courses at the senior and graduate levels; the university space engineering research program that supports cross-disciplinary research centers; the outreach flight experiments program that offers engineering research opportunities to universities; and the planned university investigator's research program to provide grants to individuals with outstanding credentials.

Sadin, Stanley R.↗

Joint Institute for Advancement of Flight Sciences

The Aeroacoustics Research Program is an integral part of the Joint Institute for Advancement of Flight Sciences at The George Washington University. It is affiliated with many civil, mechanical, and environmental engineering courses, particularly those that stress theory and numerical or other analytic methods in engineering. This report lists the courses presented, the names of graduate research assistants, and bibliographic information regarding publications and presentations. Three graduate degrees were awarded and the abstracts of each dissertation is included. The dissertations were as follows: "A Numerical Investigation of Thermoacoustic Oscillations", which discusses advances in the study of acoustic phenomena through the use of computational aeroacoustics. "Computation of Vortex Shedding and Radiated Sound for a Circular Cylinder: Subcritical to Transcritical Reynolds Numbers", which discusses predicting tonal noise generated by vortex shedding from a circular cylinder. And finally, "The Radiated Field Generated by a Monopole Source in a Short, Rigid, Rectangular Duct", which develops a method for modeling the acoustic field generated by a monopole source placed in a moving rectangular duct.

Source record↗

Remote sensing programs and courses in engineering and water resources

The content of typical basic and advanced remote sensing and image interpretation courses are described and typical remote sensing graduate programs of study in civil engineering and in interdisciplinary environmental remote sensing and water resources management programs are outlined. Ideally, graduate programs with an emphasis on remote sensing and image interpretation should be built around a core of five courses: (1) a basic course in fundamentals of remote sensing upon which the more specialized advanced remote sensing courses can build; (2) a course dealing with visual image interpretation; (3) a course dealing with quantitative (computer-based) image interpretation; (4) a basic photogrammetry course; and (5) a basic surveying course. These five courses comprise up to one-half of the course work required for the M.S. degree. The nature of other course work and thesis requirements vary greatly, depending on the department in which the degree is being awarded.

Kiefer, R. W.↗

Design with brittle materials - An interdisciplinary educational program

A series of interdisciplinary design courses being offered to senior and graduate engineering students at the University of Washington is described. Attention is given to the concepts and some of the details on group design projects that have been undertaken during the past two years. It is noted that ceramic materials normally demonstrate a large scatter in strength properties. As a consequence, when designing with these materials, the conventional 'mil standards' design stresses with acceptable margins of safety cannot by employed and the designer is forced to accept a probable number of failures in structures of a given brittle material. It is this prediction of the probability of failure for structures of given, well-characterized materials that forms the basis for this series of courses.

Mueller, J. I.↗

Establishment of a Nationwide Plasma Science and Fusion Energy Certification and Apprenticeship Programs

Here we propose the establishment of a national Plasma Science and Fusion Energy training program that will combine professional development certification courses with hands-on apprenticeship opportunities. The program should be developed by a collaboration of stakeholders (academia, national laboratories, and industry) and should offer pathways for students from community colleges (CCs), minority-serving institutions (MSIs), high school graduates, and veterans. We argue that certification courses offer fast and flexible discipline-specific education that can be rapidly translated into marketable skills through hands-on apprenticeship opportunities. Furthermore, we first list major findings and recommendations related to the fusion workforce and discuss how to address them through the establishment of the proposed training program. We then highlight the appropriateness of this format for engagement with CCs, MSIs, high schools, and veteran employment services. In the final section, we provide a strategy for the establishment of the program, along with a tentative timeline and projected costs.

Certification↗

Learning-based Computational Study of the Thermodynamic, Structural, and Dynamic Properties of Molten Salt at the Atomic and Electronic Scale and Experimental Validations (Final Report for Project 19-16909)

The project completed several milestones related to the work scope to determine thermophysical properties of the molten salt FLiNaK. A combined approach to integrate advanced computations with neutron scattering experimental interrogation was used to quantify the structure and mass transport of pure FLiNaK and FLiNaK with additives. The additives investigated included Ce, Cs, Zr, and Cr. The primary outcome of the computational work was the development of a neutral network force field interatomic potential (referred to as the NNFF model in this document). The computational work also involved ab initio calculations to determine the ground truth and molecular dynamics simulations to provide computational analogs to the experimental campaign. The experimental work used enriched F 7 LiNaK prepared by Argonne National Laboratory. The use of enriched F 7 LiNaK reduced parasitic neutron absorption and significantly improved data collection and data quality. Several graduate students were supported during the course of the project, which included a one year no-cost extension. These students were trained in advanced computational methods, advanced neutron scattering methods, neutron scattering data analysis and interpretation, and molten salt sample preparation.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

The Study of the Relationship between Probabilistic Design and Axiomatic Design Methodology

This program report is the final report covering all the work done on this project. The goal of this project is technology transfer of methodologies to improve design process. The specific objectives are: 1. To learn and understand the Probabilistic design analysis using NESSUS. 2. To assign Design Projects to either undergraduate or graduate students on the application of NESSUS. 3. To integrate the application of NESSUS into some selected senior level courses in Civil and Mechanical Engineering curricula. 4. To develop courseware in Probabilistic Design methodology to be included in a graduate level Design Methodology course. 5. To study the relationship between the Probabilistic design methodology and Axiomatic design methodology.

Onwubiko, Chinyere↗

High-efficiency Thin-film Fe 2 SiS 4 and Fe 2 GeS 4 -based Solar Cells Prepared from Low-Cost Solution Precursors. Final Report

The project aimed to provide solar energy education to students from underrepresented groups and to develop a novel, nano-scale approach, in utilizing Fe 2 SiS 4 and Fe 2 GeS 4 materials as precursors to the absorber layer in photovoltaic thin-film devices. The objectives of the project were as follows: 1. Develop and implement one solar-related course at Delaware State University and train two graduate students in solar research. 2. Fabricate and characterize high-efficiency (larger than 7%) Fe 2 SiS 4 and Fe 2 GeS 4 -based solar devices. The project has been successful in both the educational components, implementing the solar course at DSU as well as in developing multiple routes to prepare the Fe 2 GeS 4 with high purity and in large quantities. The project did not meet the efficiency objective, however, a functional solar device was demonstrated.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

University-level Non-proliferation and Safeguards Education and Human Capital Development Activities at Brookhaven National Laboratory

BNL has offered Nuclear Nonproliferation, Safeguards and Security in the 21st Century,? referred to as NNSS, every year since 2009 for graduate students in technical and policy fields related to nuclear safeguards and nonproliferation. The course focuses on relevant policy issues, in addition to technical components, and is part of a larger NGSI short course initiative that includes separate courses that are delivered at three other national laboratories and NNSA headquarters. [SCHOLZ and ROSENTHAL] The course includes lectures from esteemed nonproliferation experts, tours of various BNL facilities and laboratories, and in-field and table-top exercises on both technical and policy subjects. Topics include the history of the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and other relevant treaties, the history of and advances in international nuclear safeguards, current relevant political situations in countries such as Iran, Iraq, and the Democratic Peoples? Republic of Korea (DPRK), nuclear science and technology, instrumentation and techniques used for verification activities, and associated research and development. The students conduct a mock Design Information Verification (DIV) at BNL?s decommissioned Medical Research Reactor. The capstone of the course includes a series of student presentations in which students act as policy advisors and provide recommendations in response to scenarios involving a current nonproliferation related event that are prepared by the course organizers. ?The course is open to domestic and foreign students, and caters to students in, entering, or recently having completed graduate school. Interested students must complete an application and provide a resume and a statement describing their interest in the course. Eighteen to 22 students attend annually; 165 students have completed the course to date. A stipend helps to defray students? travel and subsistence expenses. In 2015, the course was shortened from three weeks to two weeks to streamline the material, standardize NGSI course length, and draw in a larger applicant pool. ?The international and interdisciplinary mix of students attending the course encourages discussions of the topics presented during the course. Information about the course is available at https://www.bnl.gov/nnsscourse/. While a complete analysis of course students has not been undertaken, BNL is aware of three individuals who worked at national laboratories after attending the NNSS course, one who worked at a national laboratory prior to attending NNSS, two who worked as federal employees after attending NNSS, three who were Nonproliferation Graduate Fellows before or after attending NNSS, and three who have participated in other NGSI activities.?Design Information Verification is an IAEA inspection activity that is implemented for the purpose of ensuring that the facility design is consistent with the declared use of a facility.

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗

Recovery Act - An Interdisciplinary Program for Education and Outreach in Transportation Electrification

1) How the project adds to the education of engineering students in the area of vehicle electrification: This project created and implemented a significant interdisciplinary curriculum in HEV engineering that includes courses focused on the major components (engines, battery cells, e-machines, and power electronics). The new curriculum, rather uniquely, features two new classes and two new labs that emphasize a vehicle level integration of a hybrid electric powertrain that parallels the vehicle development process used by the OEMs - commercial grade software is used to design a hybrid electric vehicle, hardware-in-the-loop testing is performed on each component until the entire powertrain is optimized, the calibration is flashed to a vehicle, ride-and-drives are executed including on board data acquisition. In addition, nine existing courses were modified by adding HEV material to the courses. 2) The educational effectiveness and economic feasibility of the new curriculum: The new courses are offered at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. They are listed across the college in mechanical, chemical, electrical, and materials science and engineering. They are offered both on campus and to distance learning students. Students across the college of engineering and at all degree levels are integrating these courses into their degree programs. Over the three year project the course enrollments on-campus has totaled 1,249. The distance learning enrollments has totaled 315. With such robust enrollments we absolutely expect that these courses will be in the curriculum for the long run. 3) How the project is otherwise of benefit to the public: One outcome of the project is the construction of the Michigan Tech Mobile Lab. Two complete HEV dynamometer test cells, and four work stations are installed in the 16.2 meter Mobile Laboratory and hauled by a class 8 truck. The Mobile Lab is used to teach the university courses. It is also used to deliver short courses to industry, K-12 outreach, and public education. In 2012 the Mobile Lab participated in 22 outreach events, locally, throughout Michigan, and including events in Washington DC, Illinois, and Wisconsin. The Mobile Lab is a hit wherever it goes. In 2013 we will partner with the US Army TARDEC and be featured in their Green Warrior Convoy, a ten city tour starting in Detroit and finishing in Washington DC.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗