From 11-18 April, recent NSSPI Ph.D. graduate Braden Goddard traveled to northern India to teach classes in the Nuclear Engineering Department at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IITK). Goddard gave a series of six 75 minute lectures, covering such topics as nuclear safeguards, Monte Carlo methods, and nuclear security science. These lectures were attended by two professors, two Ph.D. students, and eight Masters of Technology (M.Tech.) students from IITK. This series of lectures was considered to be part of the class requirements for the M. Tech. students, and, as such, the M.Tech. students were also asked to pass a 30 minute oral exam to test their understanding of the concepts taught. Throughout the experience, the IITK students were able to ask questions about what life is like in the U.S. for a Ph.D. student or a post-doc.
It addition to the lectures, various meetings were held to increase TAMU-IITK relations, with particular emphasis on drafting a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two institutions. Further participation between TAMU and IITK is planned this summer with a TAMU Ph.D. student traveling to IITK for two months to work on research.
This exchange is being conducted in conjunction with Sandia National Laboratories and the US Department of State.
Braden Goddard graduated May 2013 with his Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering with Nuclear Nonproliferation specialization. His advisor was Dr. William Charlton, and his dissertation involves quantifying multi-actinide reprocessing product materials using neutron multiplicity counting techniques based on laboratory experiments performed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Joint Research Center in Italy, and Los Alamos National Laboratory.