Nuclear education and public outreach at Virginia Commonwealth University

Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is located in Richmond, Virginia, USA, and has one of the newest engineering colleges (founded in 1996) and nuclear engineering programs (founded in 2007). The nuclear engineering program is within the Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering which has a large teaching and research portfolio with 521 undergraduate students, 106 graduate students, and 30 faculty. The department also has a nationally (United States) ranked online Master of Science degree program that has ∼50 students enrolled in it. The graduation rates for nuclear engineering focused students at VCU are comparable to established United States nuclear engineering programs, including the University of California Berkeley, Purdue University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Nuclear engineering education at VCU goes beyond the classroom and research projects to include extracurricular activities. These activities include visits to nuclear facilities (e.g. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Savannah River Site, and Vogtle Electric Generating Plant) and participation in professional societies (e.g. American Nuclear Society (ANS), Institute of Nuclear Materials Management, and American Society of Mechanical Engineers). Local chapters of these societies perform various public outreach events every year, including visits to K-12 schools. The ANS at VCU chapter has been especially active, hosting every year a 'Girl Scouts Getting to Know Nuclear' workshop, 'Boy Scout Nuclear Science Merit Badge' workshop, school teacher 'The Science of Nuclear Energy and Radiation' workshop, and a visit to the Virginia State Capital to meet with Virginia Delegates and Senators to discuss the important contributions of nuclear science and technology for economic development and clean energy production. Due to this exceptional outreach and other factors, the ANS-VCU chapter has been awarded the honor to host the 2019 ANS Student Conference, where public outreach will be an important aspect of the numerous events. The public outreach of VCU's nuclear engineering program goes beyond the United States and includes activities in Egypt and India to support and strengthen security education and culture. Although VCU has one of the newest nuclear engineering programs in the world, they are already comparable by many metrics to established programs at other universities in the United States. (author)