INL National University Consortium – Annual Report 19 A collaboration between INL and universities, INL’s Graduate Fellowship program is aimed at identifying exceptional talent to continue INL’s mission. The program is also built to offer mentoring and financial support to students beginning or currently enrolled in Ph.D. programs. During the first years of their doctorate programs, students spend their time at their universities completing coursework while collaborating with their INL mentor and Ph.D. adviser to develop a research plan. Once coursework is completed, graduate fellows spend the last years of their Ph.D. program at INL conducting research as outlined in their research plan. Casey Icenhour Casey Icenhour, a student from North Carolina State University, spent the last year-and-a-half at Oak Ridge National Laboratory through the Office of Science’s Graduate Student Research Program. Before hearing about its INL Graduate Fellowship program, outside of INL’s general mission, Icenhour wasn’t very familiar with INL. However, through another NCSU student, Alex Lindsay, who had worked with INL previously and is now an employee, Icenhour and his Ph.D. adviser, Steve Shannon, saw a valuable connection between his thesis topic and the modeling and simulation work—i.e., Multiphysics Object Oriented Simulation Environment (MOOSE)—being done at INL. Now, Icenhour is working on expanding the MOOSE framework to include his work on electromagnetic wave propagation. “It’s been a boon to my work because instead of just focusing on that and only that, I’m starting to think more about the applications of my research,” he said. Bill Chuirazzi Bill Chuirazzi, a doctorate student from The Ohio State University, chose nuclear engineering because of its diverse approach to problem- solving. “Physics, chemistry, and electrical, computer, mechanical, chemical and civil engineering are frequently all used in nuclear engineering,” Chuirazzi said. “This integrated approach provides many tools to create solutions and always keeps things interesting.” Based at INL’s Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC) as part of his doctorate research, Chuirazzi is working in the field of neutron imaging, specifically designing and installing a digital imaging systems in INL’s Neutron Radiography Reactor. The new system Chuirazzi is working on will allow spent nuclear fuel to be nondestructively tested and monitored. After graduation, Chuirazzi hopes to continue nuclear engineering research in a national laboratory setting. “Exposure to a national laboratory setting and the top- notch researchers who reside here has improved my technical skills, shown me new areas of research and provided access to research resources that would be otherwise unavailable to me,” Chuirazzi said. Kelly McCary Kelly McCary, a doctorate student from The Ohio State University, originally became interested in nuclear engineering while pursuing her undergraduate degree. “I found nuclear energy to be an interesting topic both academically as well as socially and environmentally,” McCary said. “I chose to be a INL Graduate Fellows