Evans Kitcher will be receiving his Ph.D. degree in nuclear engineering from Texas A&M University in August. He worked with Dr. Sunil Chirayath to develop a generic design for Small Modular Reactors, which he then analyzed with respect to xenon-induced power oscillations.
Kitcher earned a B.S. in physics at the University of Papua New Guinea before coming to Texas A&M University in August 2010. Under the tutelage of Dr. Chirayath, Kitcher earned a M.S. in nuclear engineering in December 2012 focusing on small modular reactor design and continued in the same field for his dissertation work. While pursuing his graduate degrees at Texas A&M, Kitcher has worked on multiple research projects, including spent fuel cask analyses for Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant and a neutron camera imaging project with the Texas A&M Nuclear Science Center. He also served as a graduate mentor for undergraduate research as part of the AggiE Challenge Program and interned with NuScale Power LLC in Corvallis, Oregon. Kitcher is currently a Texas A&M Graduate Teaching Fellow with the College of Engineering and teaches ENGR111 and ENGR112 in the fall and spring semesters, respectively.
Kitcher successfully defended his dissertation in June, and upon graduation he will be continuing as a lecturer for the College of Engineering and working with NSSPI as a postdoctoral researcher.