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X. George Xu To Lead Nuclear Engineering Program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Radiation Expert Will Oversee One of the
Largest, Most Established Nuclear Engineering Programs in the
Nation
Radiation expert X. George Xu has been named program head of
Nuclear Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute. The two-year appointment is effective
immediately.
In this new role, Xu is responsible
for overseeing student recruiting, curriculum development,
research, and faculty hiring for the Nuclear
Engineering Program. Additionally, he is tasked with
promoting the program to external stakeholders, including
alumni and alumnae, as well as seeking out new funding,
development, and partnership opportunities.
“We are excited for the future of the Nuclear Engineering
Program at Rensselaer. The appointment of Dr. Xu as program
head is an important step for expanding the scope and reach of
our Nuclear Engineering Program, as well as its national and
international visibility,” said
David Rosowsky, dean of the School of Engineering
at Rensselaer. “George is an internationally recognized expert
and leader in his field, and is the ideal person to help guide
nuclear engineering at Rensselaer to the next level.”
The nuclear engineering program at Rensselaer is among
the oldest in the nation, dating back to the late 1950s
when the university received a grant to construct an electron
accelerator. The university bestowed its first nuclear
engineering doctoral degrees in 1962, and its first nuclear
engineering bachelor’s degrees in 1967. Today, Rensselaer
consistently ranks among the top nuclear engineering programs,
and for several years graduated more nuclear engineering
undergraduates than any other university in the United States.
Currently, about 150 undergraduate and graduate students are
enrolled in the Nuclear Engineering Program at Rensselaer.
“Our vision is for Rensselaer to take full advantage of the
current nuclear renaissance spurred by a national focus on
energy security and environmental sustainability as well as
ever-stronger demand for electricity in overseas markets,” said
Xu, a professor of Department of Mechanical,
Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering, with a joint
appointment in the Department of Biomedical
Engineering. “We are in an important time of history when
global economic prosperity and sustainability rely increasingly
on advanced and safe nuclear technologies. There are
unprecedented opportunities for our faculty and students to
make substantial contributions in areas including advanced
reactor design, nuclear safety, and medical use of nuclear
technologies.”
Given the global need for inexpensive and safe sources of
energy, Rensselaer nuclear engineering graduates are in great
demand for positions in nuclear power industry, national
laboratories, medicine, or national defense, Xu said.
The Nuclear Engineering Program at Rensselaer is anchored by
outstanding faculty as well as two unique, world-class research
facilities. The Gaerttner Linear
Accelerator (LINAC), a high-power electron linear
accelerator capable of producing intense pulsed electron beams,
is among the most powerful and versatile accelerators in its
class. LINAC has enabled leading-edge nuclear engineering
research at Rensselaer for more than 50 years. Additionally,
the
Walthousen Reactor Critical Facility is one of only 25
research reactors at U.S. universities, and the only low-power
test reactor that uses fuel rods similar to those used in
commercial power plants. Students who use the facility can gain
practical experience and obtain a license from the U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission for reactor operation—a key
differentiator for students seeking employment in the nuclear
industry.
The Nuclear Engineering Program at Rensselaer is a part of
the university’s Department of Mechanical,
Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering.
After earning his doctorate from Texas A&M University,
Xu joined the Rensselaer faculty in 1995. He was named
associate professor in 2001 and a full professor in 2006. The
recipient of a Faculty Early Career Development Award (CAREER)
from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Xu conducts
research in experimental and computational methods for
measuring ionizing radiation involving the human body,
environment, or nuclear systems. With his students in the Radiation
Measurement and Dosimetry Group at Rensselaer, he has
pioneered several computational methods for calculating
radiation levels in the human body from nuclear power plants
and medical imaging and therapeutic devices, toward the goal of
ensuring radiation safety of nuclear workers and patients.
Since 1995, Xu has graduated 14 doctoral students and 10
master’s students. A prolific researcher, Xu is an author or
coauthor of more than 140 peer-reviewed journal papers, 200
conference abstracts, and 90 invited seminars and plenary
presentations. In his time at Rensselaer, he has secured nearly
$10 million in research funding from the NSF, National
Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Energy, National
Institute of Standards and Technology, and from industry. In
2005, Xu co-founded the International
Consortium of Computational Human Phantoms, playing a
leading role in an emerging research field. Xu is a past
president of Council on Radiation Measurements and Standards
(CIRMS), an elected member of the National Council of
Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP), and a fellow
of the American Association of Physicists
in Medicine (AAPM).
For more information on Xu’s research and nuclear
engineering at Rensselaer, visit:
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Published
January 3,
2012 |
Contact: Michael Mullaney
Phone: (518) 276-6161
E-mail: mullam@rpi.edu |
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