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Overview of the Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute DOE Trainee-ship in Environmental Management - 17493

The Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), through support from the Department of Energy (DOE), is offering an Environmental Management (EM) Trainee-ship program that is shaped by the inherent challenges in EM-related missions and seeks to cultivate the technical foundation and practical skills required to address these challenges. The trainee-ship program includes multiple new fellows per year of support (MS and/or PhD students) and builds on the existing core robotics curricula while introducing specialized topics that ensure a thorough understanding of EM-relevant concerns. The trainee-ship incorporates supervised research opportunities with CMU faculty advisors and through collaborations with DOE national labs (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Savannah River National Laboratory). These research opportunities aim to produce specialists who have the skills required to envision, develop, and deploy autonomous and semi-autonomous systems that directly address DOE-EM needs. Specifically, the Robotics Institute identifies two specializations in addition to the three core areas that students must master in order to develop these kinds of systems: (1) a theory perspective of how to develop autonomous systems for applications in constrained environments, and (2) a practicum that challenges students to build systems that can operate in constrained EM-relevant environments. The DOE Trainee-ship in Robotics is formulated to provide a course of study that balances theory and practice with opportunities for field evaluation in collaboration with domain partners toward addressing relevant DOE-EM challenges through robotics. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Enhancement of Nuclear Engineering Technology Degree with a Web-Based PWR Simulator

Reactor plant simulators are used in the nuclear industry for initial and continuous training of reactor operators and senior reactor operators. The use of the generic pressurized water reactor (GPWR) plant simulator is valuable for the nuclear industry as it will ensure graduates of the Bachelor of Science in Nuclear Engineering Technology (BSNET) program will be better trained employees for the nuclear industry and address forecasted workforce shortages in the nuclear industry. By adopting simulation for education, a proven teaching and training method applied extensively in the plant environment, work quality among entrants to the nuclear power workforce will be improved, elevating performance in the field. This includes a positive influence on safety which is paramount to retaining public support of this clean energy source. Much of the research on the use of simulations within courses has argued that simulations are good tools to help students learn key concepts, terminology, and theories within courses. The GPWR simulator provides an opportunity for nuclear engineering technology students to improve their understanding of theoretical concepts associated with nuclear power plants. This hands-on experience will ensure graduates of the BSNET program will be better trained employees for the nuclear industry and address forecasted workforce shortages in the nuclear industry by providing a real-world experience in plant operations. The GPWR simulator will be utilized in five nuclear courses to begin, while providing opportunities for future expansion of the curriculum. All students graduating with a BSNET degree will interact with the simulator, experience better preparing them for further simulator training provided throughout the industry for licensure of operators. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Building a Decommissioning Army - 19259

It is safe to say that Canada has, for the greater part, seen the end of large-scale commercial nuclear new build projects. In spite of a renaissance in the last decade, and the fact that nuclear is now widely viewed by many as the original green energy, refurbishment projects both underway and scheduled will likely be the last of the megaprojects. In a sense, the future of large-scale nuclear power generation is the end of large scale nuclear power generation. Just as the construction and operation of these facilities has, for decades, employed scores of highly skilled workers, so too will the decommissioning process. Today, Canadian decommissioning activities are first-of-kind (FOAK)projects. There are very few experts in the field and certainly no plan in place to educate and prepare the numbers of workers we will need to safely and successfully execute the programs. It is to this end that I propose a national education centre be created to recruit, educate and mobilize all manner of professionals needed to meet this challenge. In an effort to meet the human and technological needs of the industry in the future, I propose the development of a Canadian Institute where the students study and learn how to decommission a nuclear power plant. The student body of the institute would comprise graduate students with backgrounds in a wide variety of studies such as engineering, physics, chemistry, commerce, environmental studies, and communications. Collectively, their time spent at the institute shall not only prepare them for a career in nuclear but will also vastly improve the technical readiness level of the Canadian nuclear industry to transition from large-scale nuclear utilities to a future of small modular reactors (SMRs) and renewable energy resources. Staff at the institute would be selected from leaders in the industry -those who have shown a passion for nuclear and have demonstrated innovative problem solving and leadership. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

The conduct of the united states department of energy nuclear criticality safety program hands-on training and education courses - 14621

The United States Department of Energy (DOE) Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP), funded and managed by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), offers courses to educate nuclear criticality safety (NCS) engineers, process supervisors, and others, and to provide experimental, hands-on training addressing important characteristics of neutron multiplying systems. This training satisfies the American National Standard Institute/American Nuclear Society (ANSI/ANS)-8.26-2007 requirement for participating in hands-on experiments with fissionable materials and provides awareness and understanding of DOE Orders, Guides and Rules, ANS standards, and hazard identification techniques, as well as control design, implementation, and maintenance in criticality safety evaluations. Since the pilot course was developed in 2011, a variety of courses have been developed for NCS practitioners and process supervisors. Attendees have come from several US and international sites. Through NCSP international collaborations and relationships, students from the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) in the United Kingdom, Atomic Energy of Canada, and the Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety in France have participated in these courses in the US. Manager courses are available for process supervisors and operations managers with NCS responsibilities in their daily jobs. Manager courses are taught at Sandia National Laboratory (SNL) and the National Criticality Experiments Research Center (NCERC); they offer a combination of hands-on experiments and classroom discussions. A two-week course is also offered for NCS practitioners, with a week of classroom instruction at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) focused on generation of NCS evaluations, and a week of hands-on training utilizing the critical assemblies at either SNL or NCERC. Cleared students can attend the hands-on training at either SNL or NCERC, and uncleared students can attend at SNL. Courses continue to evolve and continuously improve as important elements of NCS evaluations (e.g., human factors, non-destructive assay (NDA) techniques, process criticality accident lessons-learned, and hand calculation methods) are integrated with criticality safety evaluation exercises. Courses include tours of process operations at SNL, NCERC, and LANL, and interaction with instructors experienced in conducting critical experiments and working in NCS. The NNSA NCSP provides management, funding, and technical direction for these courses and makes them available with no tuition cost to NCS practitioners. This paper provides a status report to the NCS community on the conduct of these courses and how they will likely evolve in the future. (authors)

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

U.S. Department of Energy Collegiate Wind Competition 2025 Rules - Phase 1

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Wind Energy Technologies Office's (WETO) Collegiate Wind Competition (CWC, also referred to as the "Competition" in this rules document) invites interdisciplinary teams of undergraduate students from a variety of academic programs to solve complex wind energy challenges. Through the competition, WETO intends to offer students direct industry experience, valuable exposure to wind energy career pathways, and greater knowledge of wind energy's potential to contribute to a clean energy future. The competition will select up to 35 teams to start, making them eligible to compete for a cash prize pool of up to $280,000 . Each year, the competition identifies a new challenge and set of activities that address real-world research questions, thus demonstrating skills that students will need to work in the wind or wider renewable energy industries. The Collegiate Wind Competition 2025 challenge requires participants to compete simultaneously in four contests: 1) Turbine Prototype Contest: Design, build, and present a unique, wind-driven power system based on market research; 2) Turbine Testing Contest: Test the wind turbine in a competition wind tunnel at the final event; 3) Project Development Contest: Research wind resource data, transmission infrastructure, and environmental factors to create a site plan and financial analysis for a hypothetical wind farm; and Connection Creation Contest: Partner with wind industry professionals, raise awareness of wind energy in your local community, and work with local media to promote your team's accomplishments. The competition does not prescribe a power system market or wind regime. It is expected that each team will participate in all four contests.

collegiate wind competition↗

U.S. Department of Energy Collegiate Wind Competition 2025: Rules - Phases 2 and 3

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Wind Energy Technologies Office's (WETO) Collegiate Wind Competition (CWC, also referred to as the "competition" in this rules document) invites interdisciplinary teams of undergraduate students from a variety of academic programs to solve complex wind energy challenges. Through the competition, WETO intends to offer students direct industry experience, valuable exposure to wind energy career pathways, and greater knowledge of wind energy's potential to contribute to a clean energy future. The competition will select up to 35 teams to start, making them eligible to compete for a cash prize pool of up to $280,000. Each year, the competition identifies a new challenge and set of activities that address real-world research questions, thus demonstrating skills that students will need to work in the wind or wider renewable energy industries. The Collegiate Wind Competition 2025 challenge requires participants to compete simultaneously in four contests: 1) Turbine Design Contest: Design, build, and present a unique, wind-driven power system. 2) Turbine Testing Contest: Test the wind turbine in a competition wind tunnel at the final event. 3) Project Development Contest: Research wind resource data, transmission infrastructure, and environmental factors to create a site plan and financial analysis for a hypothetical wind farm. 4) Connection Creation Contest: Partner with wind industry professionals, raise awareness of wind energy in your local community, and work with local media to promote your team's accomplishments. The competition does not prescribe a power system market or wind regime. It is expected that each team will participate in all four contests.

Collegiate Wind Competition↗

Mathematics Integrated with Computer Science through Scratch: Curricular Modules for the Middle Grades

A project funded by the National Science Foundation, Computer Science Integrated with Mathematics in Middle Schools (CSIMMS) (DRL-1640039), brought middle-school mathematics teachers together with university computer science (CS) faculty and STEM education faculty to design, develop, and test curriculum modules in which CS is integrated into instruction for middle-school general-mathematics courses. The project developed integrated math/CS curriculum modules (for grades 6, 7, and 8), complete with student tasks and teacher materials to guide classroom implementation. Across the project, sixteen teachers from four middle schools representing different school contexts (both urban and suburban, serving students from a range of demographic and socioeconomic backgrounds) participated as members of the design team and trial testers of the math/CS modules. All modules underwent multiple years of testing and refinement, with extensive input from the teachers who co-designed and implemented them. Approximately 50-100 middle-school students participated in the classes of those who taught each year. The modules in this volume feature a range of models for integrating mathematics and computer science at the 6th and 7th grade levels. All modules foreground the teaching of grade-level mathematics content, with computer science functioning to motivate and/or reinforce these ideas.

Andrews larson, Christine↗

Energy Technology Commercialization and Entrepreneurship: Insights From the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Technology Transitions 2024 Energy Technology University Prize Faculty Track

The Energy Technology University Prize (EnergyTech UP) was established in 2022 with the goal of challenging student teams to develop impactful business plans for energy technologies of their choosing. EnergyTech UP is part of the The American Made Challenges program portfolio, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. EnergyTech UP is specifically funded by the Department of Energy's Office of Technology Transfer (OTT) and is administrated by staff at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Since its inception, the annual prize has attracted applications from approximately 1,948 students across nearly every U.S. state and territory, awarding over $1 million in funds to student teams. In 2024, the prize expanded to include a Faculty Track, which invited faculty members from degree-granting institutions across the U.S. to design entrepreneurship-based curricula or educational activities. This new track aims to foster innovation in energy entrepreneurship education by leveraging the expertise of faculty to create robust, practical, and inclusive learning experiences. This report summarizes the themes, strategies and impacts identified in proposals from EnergyTech UP's inaugural Faculty Track. Our primary data for organizing insights are the Faculty Track applications themselves. This evaluation of 2024 EnergyTech UP Faculty Track applications aims to support future EnergyTech UP Faculty Track applicants as well as others who are interested in promoting, developing, and/or implementing educational activities that focus on energy commercialization and entrepreneurship at their institutions. By presenting insights from 2024 entries to the Faculty Track, we hope to contribute to a growing inventory of open-source curriculum development resources and provide materials to facilitate the growth of similar programs at a variety of collegiate institutions.

adoption readiness level↗

DOE-EM-45 PACKAGING OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE COURSE

Savannah River National Laboratory - Savannah River Packaging Technology (SRNL-SRPT) delivered the inaugural offering of the Packaging Operations and Maintenance Course for DOE-EM-45's Packaging Certification Program (PCP) at the University of South Carolina Aiken on September 1 and 2, 2009. Twenty-nine students registered, attended, and completed this training. The DOE-EM-45 Packaging Certification Program (PCP) sponsored the presentation of a new training course, Packaging Maintenance and Operations, on September 1-2, 2009 at the University of South Carolina Aiken (USC-Aiken) campus in Aiken, SC. The premier offering of the course was developed and presented by the Savannah River National Laboratory, and attended by twenty-nine students across the DOE, NNSA and private industry. This training informed package users of the requirements associated with handling shipping containers at a facility (user) level and provided a basic overview of the requirements typically outlined in Safety Analysis Report for Packaging (SARP) Chapters 1, 7, and 8. The course taught packaging personnel about the regulatory nature of SARPs to help reduce associated and often costly packaging errors. Some of the topics covered were package contents, loading, unloading, storage, torque requirements, maintaining records, how to handle abnormal conditions, lessons learned, leakage testing (including demonstration), and replacement parts. The target audience for this course was facility operations personnel, facility maintenance personnel, and field quality assurance personnel who are directly involved in the handling of shipping containers. The training also aimed at writers of SARP Chapters 1, 7, and 8, package designers, and anyone else involved in radioactive material packaging and transportation safety. Student feedback and critiques of the training were very positive. SRNL will offer the course again at USC Aiken in September 2010.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Evaluating Gaussian process metamodels and sequential designs for noisy level set estimation

Abstract We consider the problem of learning the level set for which a noisy black-box function exceeds a given threshold. To efficiently reconstruct the level set, we investigate Gaussian process (GP) metamodels. Our focus is on strongly stochastic simulators, in particular with heavy-tailed simulation noise and low signal-to-noise ratio. To guard against noise misspecification, we assess the performance of three variants: (i) GPs with Student- t observations; (ii) Student- t processes (TPs); and (iii) classification GPs modeling the sign of the response. In conjunction with these metamodels, we analyze several acquisition functions for guiding the sequential experimental designs, extending existing stepwise uncertainty reduction criteria to the stochastic contour-finding context. This also motivates our development of (approximate) updating formulas to efficiently compute such acquisition functions. Our schemes are benchmarked by using a variety of synthetic experiments in 1–6 dimensions. We also consider an application of level set estimation for determining the optimal exercise policy of Bermudan options in finance.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Exploring Electrosynthesis: Bulk Electrolysis and Cyclic Voltammetry Analysis of the Shono Oxidation

As electrochemistry continues to gain broader acceptance and use within the organic chemistry community, it is important that advanced undergraduate students are exposed to fundamental and practical knowledge of electrochemical applications for chemical synthesis. Herein, we describe the development of an undergraduate laboratory experience that introduces synthetic and analytical electrochemistry concepts to an advanced organic chemistry class. Experiments focus on the electrooxidative α-functionalization of carbamates, more generally known as the Shono oxidation, and include cyclic voltammetry analysis of two cyclic carbamates and a constant current bulk electrolysis reaction. Here, the exercise offers students an authentic experience in organic electrochemistry, lays a practical and theoretical foundation for future engagement with concepts in electrochemistry and redox chemistry, and strengthens fundamental organic chemistry skills.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

A Polymer Degradation and Remanufacturing Experiment in the High School Classroom

Most students enter college without any exposure to polymer science, which leads to the poor understanding and slow implementation of plastic recycling programs in the United States. Here, to address the knowledge gap in chemical recycling, we introduce a 2-part laboratory experiment that was conducted in multiple high schools and public outreach events to demonstrate the depolymerization of PET via aminolysis and the remanufacturing of cleaved PET fragments into a new aramid polymer. Student experiences were evaluated with two postlab assignments.

Hands-on Learning↗

Building a Simplistic Automatic Extruder: Instrument Development Opportunities for the Laboratory

This work presents an automatic extruder as a research experience for undergraduate students. The system offers a user-friendly approach to preparing vesicles, such as liposomes or polymersomes, with a defined size and polydispersity properties crucial for research in biology and macromolecules. It comprises two syringe pumps connected by a membrane filter. The setup is controlled by software. Compared to manual extrusion, this automated system provides advantages, such as precisely controlled variables. The project describes a tool to enhance undergraduate learning in science and engineering laboratories. Building an automatic extruder serves as a simplified model of a complex industrial process. It offers a clear advantage: automating a well-understood manual extrusion process. To make this project accessible, it is broken down into three manageable tasks: software development, hardware assembly, and testing procedures. This breakdown describes the software created, the hardware components used, and the testing procedures conducted for this project. All project data, including software code, testing data, and procedures, are freely available online. This allows undergraduate students to not only begin their own projects but also contribute to this educational instrument’s ongoing development.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

What goes on behind closed doors? How college dormitory residents change to save energy during a competition-based energy reduction intervention

Here, the aim of our study was to evaluate the impact of a competition-based intervention combining high resolution electricity feedback, incentives, information, and prompts on college dormitory residents’ energy consumption and participation in demand response (DR) events. We also investigated changes in individual-level pro-environmental behaviors and examined psycho-social correlates of behavior change. Residents of 39 suites in a freshman residence hall competed against one another to reduce energy consumption and win prizes as part of a 3-week competition. Feedback was provided in near real time at the suite-level via an interactive touch-screen kiosk. Participants also completed baseline and followup surveys. Findings have indicated that electricity use among all suites was approximately 6.4% lower during the competition period compared to baseline, a significant reduction. Additionally, participants reported engaging in various pro-environmental behaviors significantly more frequently during the competition relative to baseline. Changes in pro-environmental behavior were associated with changes in level of group identification and perceived social norms. In three weeks, dormitory residents saved 3, 158 kWh of electricity compared to baseline – the equivalent of more than 3, 470 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions. Our findings provide evidence that real-time feedback, combined with incentives, information, and prompts, can motivate on-campus residents to reduce energy consumption. We contribute to a limited body of evidence supporting the effectiveness of dorm energy competitions in motivating college students to save energy. In addition, we identified individual-level behavioral and psycho-social changes made during such an intervention. University residential life planners may also use the results of this research to inform student programming.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Solar Decathlon Visitors Guide 2011, National Mall, West Potomac Park, Washington, D.C., September 23 - October 2, 2011 (Brochure)

Guide to the student-designed houses, ten contests, exhibits, and workshops of the U.S. Department of Energy 2011 Solar Decathlon, held in Washington, D.C., from September 23 through October 2, 2011. Teams of college students designed and built the solar-powered houses on display here. They represent 13 U.S. states, five countries, and four continents. Now the teams are rising to the challenge by competing in 10 contests over nine days, with the championship trophy on the line. This is their time to shine. The 2011 teams may share a common goal - to design and build the best energy-efficient house powered by the sun - but their strategies are different. One house is made of precast concrete, while another 'dances' in response to its environment. Another house is meant to sit atop a building, proving the sky's the limit for energy innovation. Whatever your idea of sustainable living may be, you are bound to find it at the Solar Decathlon.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

West Village Community: Quality Management Processes and Preliminary Heat Pump Water Heater Performance

West Village, a multiuse project underway at the University of California Davis, represents a groundbreaking sustainable community that incorporates energy efficiency measures and on-site renewable generation to achieve community-level goals of ultra high efficiency. The project, when complete, will provide housing for students, faculty, and staff, and maintain a vision to minimize the community’s environmental impact by reducing building energy use, providing on-site renewable energy generation, and encouraging alternative forms of transportation. The focus of this research concerns the 192 student apartments completed in 2011 under Phase I of the West Village multi-year project. The developer implemented numerous aggressive energy efficiency measures that are estimated to achieve 37% source energy savings over the Building America Benchmark. There are two primary objectives of this research. The first is to evaluate performance and efficiency of central heat pump water heaters for domestic water heating in ultra-efficient buildings. The second is to evaluate the effectiveness of quality assurance and quality control processes in ensuring proper system startup and operation and documenting compliance with efficiency programs. This research additionally recommends measures to promote successful implementation of quality processes in large-scale, high performance communities.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

West Village Community: Quality Management Processes and Preliminary Heat Pump Water Heater Performance

West Village, a multi-use project underway at the University of California Davis, represents a ground-breaking sustainable community incorporating energy efficiency measures and on-site renewable generation to achieve community-level Zero Net Energy (ZNE) goals. When complete, the project will provide housing for students, faculty, and staff with a vision to minimize the community’s impact on energy use by reducing building energy use, providing on-site generation, and encouraging alternative forms of transportation. This focus of this research is on the 192 student apartments that were completed in 2011 under Phase I of the West Village multi-year project. The numerous aggressive energy efficiency measures implemented result in estimated source energy savings of 37% over the B10 Benchmark. There are two primary objectives of this research. The first is to evaluate performance and efficiency of the central heat pump water heaters as a strategy to provide efficient electric water heating for net-zero all-electric buildings and where natural gas is not available on site. In addition, effectiveness of the quality assurance and quality control processes implemented to ensure proper system commissioning and to meet program participation requirements is evaluated. Recommendations for improvements that could improve successful implementation for large-scale, high performance communities are identified.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Conference Grant Proposal for ICOPS 2016

ICOPS (International Conference on Plasma Science) is an internationally renowned, well-attended annual conference that involves topics of direct interest to the Office of Fusion Energy Sciences of Department of Energy. In particular, ICOPS 2016 emphasized both the traditional areas of plasma science and the new areas of growth that include but are not limited to Fusion (Inertial, Magnetic and Alternate Concepts), Particle Acceleration with Laser and Beams, High Energy Density Matter, Laser Produced Plasma, Fast Z-pinches, Computational Plasma Physics, Plasma Diagnostics, and such frontiers as studying Warm Dense Matter using the X-ray free electron lasers. The travel support of the students at ICOPS comes usually from sponsor organizations. Increasing the participation of outstanding students at ICOPS 2016 who are the first authors of the abstracts and are selected to receive the travel support based on the scientific merit of the submitted abstracts is crucial for the creation of the new generation of the plasma physicists.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗