The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) has announced that the UTEP Aerospace Center will continue to transform nuclear security through nuclear material science applications by creating a pipeline of diverse talent from El Paso and throughout the country.
Through a $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, UTEP says it will renew the Partnership for Research and Education Consortium in Ceramics and Polymers (PRECCAP).
PRECCAP’s main goal is to establish a pipeline of a highly trained workforce and a community of technical peers for the Department of Energy (DOE) and its National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).
According to UTEP, since the university received the initial $3 million award from the DOE for the PRECCAP initiative in 2018, students have engaged in research opportunities on campus, served internships, and taken up full-time employment at DOE national labs.
The consortium partners with Florida International University (FIU), Tennessee State University (TSU), Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), and Kansas City National Security Campus (KCNSC).
“We are building and sustaining a pipeline of highly trained, next-generation talents for DOE NNSA,” said Yirong Lin, Ph.D., a professor in UTEP’s Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, who is also the grant’s principal investigator. “Since we began leading this consortium, 52 UTEP students have served internships in LANL and KCNSC, and 24 of those students have found full-time jobs at those two NNSA enterprises. We are thrilled with the opportunity to continue our work advancing discovery in nuclear materials science and providing more students with impactful research experiences.”
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is a semi-autonomous Department of Energy agency responsible for enhancing national security through the military application of nuclear science.
The consortium focuses on developing and sustaining a diverse workforce and a community of technical peers from the nation’s Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and Tribal Colleges and Universities. The group’s research focuses on materials science and additive manufacturing to help the DOE NNSA meet its core mission.
At UTEP, research focuses on the design, synthesis, and fabrication of advanced ceramics and polymers for energy applications. These applications include hydrogen fuel cells for renewable energy, thermal and radiation shielding for nuclear energy, and advanced sensors for fossil energy. FIU focuses on material characterization while TSU carries out simulations and modeling. The laboratories provide technical guidance and give student interns real-world opportunities to carry out their work.
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