Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32$70,000 AVERAGE STARTING SALARY Meet Joshua Kane, a materials scientist at INL Education background: Master’s and doctoral degrees in materials science and engineering from Boise State University Bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Idaho Job description: Most of my research focuses on materials that will be used in the next generation of nuclear reactors. I get to work closely with a number of different disciplines including nuclear engineers, chemical engineers, mechanical engineers, chemists and physicists. Often, my work focuses on figuring out how a material will behave in extreme environments or trying to make it work better. What led you to become a materials research scientist? Growing up, I was always fascinated with how things work. I was always getting in trouble for taking things apart to see how they worked or to make them do things they weren’t made for. I would have never admitted it back then, but I really enjoyed math and science and took as many of those classes as I could (physics, chemistry, calculus, trigonometry). Drafting, wood shop and metal shop were also great for hands-on experience and learning how to build things. My father was an engineer and convinced me I’d like engineering. Four years after finishing my chemical engineering degree, I graduated with a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering. What do you love about your job? There are three things I enjoy most about my job: 1)  I get to work with people from all over the world with different backgrounds and skill sets. 2)  Work is never boring. Every day it’s something new. 3)  Quite often I’m working on something that no one has ever done before, which is kind of an exciting thought. Why is your work important to INL’s mission and the world? INL’s primary mission is related to innovative nuclear energy solutions. My work plays a small part in advancing next-generation nuclear reactor technology including the small modular high-temperature reactor. Making nuclear energy more viable and economical could enable development of hybrid systems that integrate nuclear with other forms of energy such as wind. Advancing nuclear energy in the U.S. will help secure our critical energy infrastructure and make it more resilient. What advice do you have for future materials scientists? Start exploring the field. Try to talk with people in the field. See if you can get a summer job working with a scientist or engineer to get some perspective about what we do. It is important to do well in math and science classes now. Don’t just memorize the material for tests then forget about it. Try to truly understand the concepts. It will help you out later on, and you will never regret it. 13