Nuclear News

Engineering New Student Welcome, Thursday, August 30, 2007

The college, various departments, student organizations and Texas A&M services staffed tables to provide information valuable to new students. Representatives were available to talk about student organizations, enrichment programs, retention programs and other support initiatives in the college and at the university.

Attendees included:
Dr. Juzaitis, Beth Earl,
Zach Bailey, Spencer Mickum, James Miller, Holly Elder, Stephanie Brown, Jeff McFarland, and Robert Balerio
Pictures

William E. Burchill Retired

Dr. William E. Burchill retired January 16, 2007, after serving for four years as Head of the Department of Nuclear Engineering. He has been appointed as an Adjunct Professor and will continue to assist the department in preparing for its Academic Programs Review in late March. During his term as Department Head, Dr. Burchill hired seven new faculty members, oversaw rennovation of over 6,000 sq ft of new laboratory and office space, established three new research laboratories, significantly increased the department's development funding, and facilitated numerous improvements in the department's academic standards and processes. He also taught the department's introductory course, NUEN 101, to all freshmen and one of the department's required Ph.D. courses, NUEN 609, Nuclear Safety. Prior to joining the department, Dr. Burchill spent thirty-three years in industry, including twenty-five years with Combustion Engineering, three with Pennsylvania Power & Light, and five with Commonwealth Edison/Exelon, during which he specialized in nuclear safety and risk management. He is very active in the American Nuclear Society and has been elected to ANS Vice-President/President-Elect in the Spring, 2007 election.

Mary O. Cochran Remembrance

Mary Cochran, wife of department founder and first department head Bob Cochran, passed away Monday, January 1, 2007. A service of remembrance held at A&M United Methodist Church on Friday, January 5, was attended by many department faculty members. Mary is remembered by many former students for her warmth and hospitality extended to them when they were students in the department. Mary is survived by her husband, Dr. Robert G. Cochran; their son and daughter-in-law Dr. Glenn & Sallie Cochran; two grandchildren Clover and Bill Cochran; and Bill's wife Sylvia and one great grandchild, Samantha Cochran. Dr. Cochran continues to reside in College Station. Memorial gifts may be made to A&M United Methodist Church Doers Sunday School Class, 417 University Drive, College Station, TX 77840.

Professor Ron Hart Retires

On Saturday, 10/7/06, the Department of Nuclear Engineering held a retirement dinner at the College Station Hilton for Professor Ron Hart who retired July 10, 2006, after being on the faculty for 31 years. Dr. Hart provided compassionate, yet firm, counsel to all students. He led the department’s establishment and enforcement of high academic standards. During nearly his whole career in the department, Dr. Hart taught NUEN 202, “Introduction to Nuclear Engineering II,” and NUEN 604, “Radiation Interactions and Shielding.” These two courses are cornerstones of the undergraduate and graduate degree programs, respectively. Dr. Hart was renown for the rigor of these courses, each of which served to differentiate students in order to identify those who needed extra help or guidance and those who had a high likelihood of success. Student feedback in each course was always very positive and expressed strong appreciation of Dr. Hart’s teaching and mentoring. In addition, Dr. Hart taught more than a dozen other nuclear engineering courses at various times during his career. Dr. Hart served under every department Head in the history of the department. He also served as a mentor to many of the department’s junior faculty. He was the department’s “corporate memory” of department policies, practices, and academic issues. Dr. Hart conducted research in the areas of ion-beam solid interactions, neutron transmutation doping, ion-beam lithography, and direct energy conversion. He supervised 12 Ph.D. candidates, 2 Doctor of Engineering candidates, and more that 30 Master of Science candidates. Dr. Hart made truly outstanding contributions to the Department of Nuclear Engineering at Texas A&M University. The department presented Dr. Hart with a plaque commemorating his contributions to the department and a Benjamin Knox print “Some May Boast 2.”