CANYON, TX – Andrew Pavlou, a Ph.D. student in Nuclear Engineering and Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has been awarded a First Place prize in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Innovations in Fuel Cycle Research Awards competition. Pavlou’s award is in the Open Competition in the category of Nuclear Science and Engineering. His award-winning research paper, “On-the-Fly Sampling of Thermal Scattering S(α,β,T) Data for Monte Carlo Codes,” was presented at the International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants in April 2014.

In order to be successful and retain its leadership role in nuclear technologies, the United States must foster creativity and breakthrough achievements to develop tomorrow’s nuclear technologies. The Department of Energy has long recognized that university students are an important source of breakthrough solutions and a key component in meeting its long-term goals. The Innovations in Fuel Cycle Research Awards Program was developed for this purpose.

The Innovations in Fuel Cycle Research Awards program is designed to: 1) award graduate and undergraduate students for innovative fuel-cycle-relevant research publications, 2) demonstrate the Office of Fuel Cycle Technologies’ commitment to higher education in fuel-cycle-relevant disciplines, and 3) support communications among students and DOE representatives.

The program awarded 20 prizes in 2014 for student publications and presentations relevant to the nuclear fuel cycle. In addition to cash awards, award-winning students will have a variety of other opportunities.

For more information on the Innovations in Fuel Cycle Research Awards program, visit http://www.fuelcycleinnovations.org.