We know your type.
You’re an overachiever with dreams of bettering the world. You came to Georgia Tech with the best grades and the longest resume, and you’re seeking a major that offers intellectual rigor and ample job opportunities. Oh, and fat paychecks down the line are a plus.
Here’s a novel idea: Try nuclear and radiological engineering (NRE).
Wait a minute, you think: Don’t most nuclear engineers huddle in bunkers designing bombs? Or: Isn’t nuclear engineering kind of dangerous?
No and no. Today’s nuclear engineers are at the forefront of clean energy and medical breakthroughs. Jobs are abundant, and you’d better believe they pay well. Read on to discover everything you need to know about NRE.
The best part about nuclear engineering? Maybe, just maybe, you can save the world doing it.
1. You will not sprout another arm.
First things first: Studying NRE is not hazardous to your health.
Peace Stegall (left), a second-year NRE major from Roswell, Ga., hears a lot of myths and half-truths about her field. Lots of people, she says, assume that nuclear engineering work might lead to dangerous levels of radiation exposure, but that’s not the case.
“You’re not going to grow a third arm if you work in a nuclear power plant,” Peace says.
Engineers take plenty of safety precautions, and at Georgia Tech, students learn from the best. Professors’ interests run the gamut from reactor design to radiation oncology.
2. You will do amazing things.
Ever toured a nuclear power plant? Tech’s NRE majors have.
Students in the program take “field trips” to plants around the region, where classroom subjects spring to life. When Peace visited The Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant, located near Baxley, Ga., she was in awe.
“The cooling towers kind of took my breath away,” she says.
There are also opportunities to mingle with other budding nuclear engineers. Sheree Tamaklo, a fourth-year NRE major from Anderson, S.C., traveled to Las Vegas in early 2012 for the American Nuclear Society’s student conference.
And back on the home front, NRE students find their major offers constant stimulation. Nuclear engineering builds on the planks of related disciplines, such as mechanical engineering, and then tosses radiation into the mix.
“You’re on the cutting edge of technology,” says Erik Pearson, a fourth-year NRE major from Louisville, Ky.
3. Jobs? Yeah, we got ‘em.
Consider this: Georgia has four nuclear reactors, and two new ones are under construction for operation in 2016. But the nuclear workforce itself is growing older. In fact, says Dr. Glenn Sjoden, a nuclear engineering professor at Tech, half of current workers are expected to retire over the next eight years.
“The job market is going to go crazy for nuclear engineers,” he says.
Twenty-five percent of the state’s power is nuclear, meaning lots of opportunities for graduates in energy production. And according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median salary for nuclear engineers in 2010 was just under $100,000.
If you’re ready to get started now, there’s co-op and internship work for students, too. Erik, for example, spent last summer interning at Southern Company, which invited him back for another internship in summer 2013.
Other students pick NRE because they’re interested in areas like medical physics. And, because NRE majors have a strong grounding in engineering basics, they can also find roles in other fields.
“Nuclear isn’t something that pigeonholes you into a certain career in a certain industry,” Erik says.
4. You’ll make a ton of friends. No, really.
NRE is part of the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering – the biggest of Tech’s eight engineering schools. But in 2011, the NRE program itself enrolled fewer than 200 undergraduates.
That means students get to know each other really, really well. They study together, hang out together, and support each other through coursework and job searches.
“The camaraderie, I would argue, is stronger than any other major on campus,” says Chris Kingsbury (left), a fourth-year NRE major from Clermont, Fla. Sheree jokes that NRE majors form their own “nuclear family.”
With so few students, everyone gets plenty of time with professors, who are, Chris says, “always willing to help you.”
5. Everyone will be impressed by your major (and where you studied).
Sheree gets a kick out of people’s reactions to NRE.
“I go back home and I tell people, ‘I’m studying nuclear engineering,’ and their mouths drop,” she says.
It’s an impressive field, and Tech is among the best places to learn about it. Earlier this year, the Institute opened the Radiation Science and Engineering Lab, which features top-of-the-line radiotherapy equipment for students to train with. And, just a few weeks ago, the federal energy department awarded Tech $6 million to develop a concept for an inherently safe high-power light water reactor.
Then, of course, there’s the strength in Tech itself. U.S. News & World Report ranks its engineering college as No. 5 in the country among universities offering doctoral degrees.
“To know that you’re going to be part of an illustrious alumni group, to know that you’re going to have connections in the future – it’s just a great thing,” Erik says.
6. Finally, you will transform the world.
Here is the bottom line: Nuclear engineers are poised to solve “the big three problems of society,” Sjoden says.
You’ve already heard about their role in energy. Nuclear power doesn’t produce any greenhouse gases, making it a clean alternative to electricity sources like coal.
What you may not know is that engineers are also needed in the fight against nuclear terrorism, and that NRE students, particularly those who pursue medical physics, could someday help cure cancers. Tech’s program prepares students for any path they hope to follow.
“We learn the energy side,” Chris says, “and we learn how to use it and apply it in the medical sense as well.”
The possibilities are dizzying. Not long from now, you might be at the frontlines of homeland security or redefining the limits of medicine. It all begins at the same starting point: an NRE degree from Georgia Tech.