On June 18, 2012, NSSPI faculty members Dr. Craig Marianno and Dr. Alexander Solodov took part in a luncheon at the US Embassy in the Czech Republic. Ambassador Norman L. Eisen hosted the luncheon in honor of the CVUT Nuclear Engineering Conference, a week-long graduate and post-graduate workshop that was held in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the nearby Czech Technical University in Prague. The workshop was organized by the Czech Nuclear Education Network (CENEN) using European Union program funds and was endorsed by the US Embassy as part of its initiative to build stronger nuclear cooperation between Czech universities and US institutions of higher learning.
The workshop included presentations on nuclear emergency response by Dr. Marriano, nuclear nonproliferation by Dr. Solodov, and particle transport modeling by fellow TAMU-NE faculty member Dr. Jean Ragusa. Approximately 30 Czech participants from Brno, Pilsen, and Prague Universities, the Nuclear Research Institute Rez, the State Office of Radiation Protection, and the Temelin Nuclear Power Station attended the sessions. The program was arranged by Dr. Radek Skoda, who holds joint appointments with both Czech Technical and Texas A&M universities.