Nuclear Engineering

Overview

The Nuclear Engineering program, at the University of Wisconsin Madison, offers students an important opportunity to help meet the energy needs of our society and to contribute to the improvement of health through medical applications. Further, because the nuclear engineering curriculum is very rich in engineering physics, graduates are prepared to work in a number of technical activities outside the nuclear engineering field.

Nuclear energy, both from fission and fusion, offers a promising approach to meeting the nation's energy needs--an approach that may preserve jobs, raise the standard of living of Americans, and alleviate the depletion of natural resources including natural gas, petroleum, and coal. Even more important, nuclear energy offers the only practical, environmentally benign approach to generating electricity on a large scale because it releases no harmful SO2, NOX, CO2, or particulate matter into the atmosphere. Nuclear energy has played, and continues to play, an important role in space exploration. Nuclear engineering has enabled the use of isotopic power supplies in deep space probes like the Cassini mission, and may eventually be used to design fission or fusion-based systems for more demanding missions.

The curriculum also prepares the graduate for work in many areas where a broad technical background is more important than specialization in a specific field. Thus, the graduate is also prepared to work in any area where a broad engineering background is helpful, such as management, technical sales, or law. The curriculum gives students excellent preparation for graduate study in the fission and fusion areas, medical and health physics, applied superconductivity, particle accelerator technology, and other areas of engineering science in addition to study in areas such as materials science, physics, mathematics, and medicine.

Learning Outcomes 

• an ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics

• an ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors

• an ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences

• an ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts

• an ability to function effectively on a team whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives

• an ability to develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions

• an ability to acquire and apply new knowledge as needed, using appropriate learning strategies.