Frederick R. Best

Associate Professor, Nuclear Engineering
Director, NASA Center for Space Power, Texas Engineering Experiment Station

Date of Appointment: 1982
Office: 129 Zachry Engineering Center
Phone: 979/845-4108
Fax: 979/845-6443
E-mail: fbest@tamu.edu

Mailing Address: Texas A&M University
Department of Nuclear Engineering
3133 TAMU
College Station, TX 77843-3133

Education
Ph.D., Nuclear Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1980
M.S., Nuclear Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1970
B.M.E., Mechanical Engineering, Manhattan College, 1968

Courses
NUEN 406, Nuclear Engineering Systems and Design
NUEN 410, Nuclear Reactor Design
NUEN 460, Special Topics in Nuclear Plant Technology and Transients
NUEN 610, Design of Nuclear Reactors

Areas of Interest
Zero Gravity Two Phase Flow
Reactor Thermal Hydraulics
Interphase Transport Phenomena

Curriculum Vita

EXPERIENCE
Visiting Professor, MIT, teaching and researc 1980-1982
Office of Naval Research, Field Project Officer (Reserve) 1987-present
Director, Nuclear Electric Utilities Program, MIT, 1979-1982
Navy Nuclear Power Program, Ship Engineering Officer, 1970-1973
Navy Nuclear Power School Instructor, 1973-1975

AWARDS/RECOMMENDATIONS
Texas A&M University, College of Engineering, Roland Haden Senior TEES Fellow
Ford Design Fellow, 2001-2002
Faculty Fellow Award, 1997-1998
Outstanding Engineering Graduate, Manhattan College, School of Engineering, 1991

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
State of Texas Professional Engineering License
Sigma Xi
American Nuclear Society -Thermal Hydraulics Division
American Nuclear Society-Scholarship Policy Coordinating Committee
American Association for the Advancement of Science
NASA Undergraduate KC-135 Flight Opportunity-Advisor to student group

Publications

F. Best, T. Hamm, and R. Kurwitz, "Design of a PbBi Cooled, Electrically Heated MOX Test Facility," K. L. Peddicord, Leonard Lazarev and Leslie J. Jardine eds., Nuclear Materials Safety Management, NATO ASI Series, Kluwer Publishing Company, 1997.

C. Kurwitz and F. Best, "Experimental Results of Loop Heat Pipe Startup in Microgravity," Proceedings of the 1st Conference on Applications of Thermophysics in Microgravity, Albuquerque, New Mexico, January 1997.

T. Hamm and F. Best, "Gravity Dependent Flow Regime Mapping," Proceedings of the 1st Conference on Applications of Thermophysics in Microgravity, Albuquerque, New Mexico, January 1997.

I. Carron and F. Best, "Microgravity Gas/Liquid Flow Regime Maps: Can We Compute Them from First Principles?," Proceedings of the 31st National Heat Transfer Conference, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Houston, Texas, August 3-6, 1996.