Nuclear Engineering Faculty Win the AETC Nuclear Deterrence Operations Professional Team of the Year Award for 2013

Congratulations to AFIT’s Nuclear Engineering Faculty in the Graduate School of Engineering and Management’s Department of Engineering Physics on winning the AETC Nuclear Deterrence Operations Professional Team of the Year Award for 2013!

Team members receiving this award are:  Dr. Larry Burggraf, Professor of Engineering Physics, Maj Benjamin Kowash, Assistant Professor of Nuclear Engineering, Dr. Kirk Mathews, Professor of Nuclear Engineering, Dr. John McClory, Assistant Professor of Nuclear Engineering, LTC Stephen McHale, USA, Assistant Professor of Nuclear Engineering, Dr. Ronald Tuttle, Associate Professor of Engineering Physics, and Dr. James Petrosky, Associate Professor of Nuclear Engineering.  During the award period, Maj Kowash served as the Director of the Nuclear Weapons, Effects, Policy & Proliferation (NWEPP) graduate certificate program.

AFIT's Nuclear Engineering curriculum plays a vital role in educating the Department of Defense’s (DOD) cadre of nuclear engineers.  During 2013, the faculty awarded doctorate degrees in Nuclear Engineering to three Air Force officers and master's degrees to 17 Air Force, Army, and Marine Corps officers.  They successfully competed for over $500,000 in funding to complete nuclear weapons and non-proliferation research projects for five different organizations within the DOD nuclear enterprise.  The faculty published 13 papers on radiation hardening, nuclear materials, and computational methods in ten different scholarly journals, and received a provisional patent for a technology that paves the way for a new type of nuclear materials detector.  They hosted a week-long symposium for over 100 scientists on chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear topics.  Finally, the faculty administered a three-course, Chief of Staff-directed program on Nuclear Weapons Effects, Policy, and Proliferation which awarded 44 graduate certificates to Airmen across the nuclear enterprise. 

Click here for more information on the NWEPP graduate certificate program.
 

Front Row (L-R):  Dr. Adedeji Badiru, Dean of the Graduate School of Engineering of Management, and Dr. Nancy Giles, Head, Department of Engineering Physics

Middle Row (L-R): Dr. John McClory, Dr. James Petrosky, Dr. Kirk Mathews, and LTC Stephen McHale

Back Row (L-R): Dr. Ronald Tuttle and Dr. Larry Burggraf

(Not pictured:  Maj Benjamin Kowash)