Activities

  • Experience Nuclear Engineering photos of field trips

    ENE Activities

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    ENE Activities

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    ENE Activities

  • Experience Nuclear Engineering photos of field trips

    ENE Activities

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    ENE Activities

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    ENE Activities

Technical projects

Six projects will give students an unforgettable, hands-on introduction to essential aspects of nuclear engineering. Detect and generate radiation, make images using radiation, code a simple Monte Carlo simulation of a nuclear reactor...these and other activities will capture interest and develop practical skills and organic insight. These projects are unique to ENE2020, designed in the UNM NE Department. Students will get to keep and take home their handiwork, and are encouraged to expand on these projects or incorporate them into future projects on their own once they leave ENE2020. Get ready to solder, develop photographic film, fool around with high-voltage electricity.

Lab activities

Handle radioactive material like a professional in the UNM NE Laboratory! We'll measure the half-life of a short-lived isotope, measure the attenuation of radiation as a detector is moved away from a source, and pay a visit to UNM's unique AGN-201M nuclear reactor.

Field trips

New Mexico has a rich history tied to nuclear technology, dating back to the Second World War. We'll get out and explore this legacy through museum visits and tours at two regional national laboratories (Los Alamos and Sandia). We will also visit partners in the medical use of radiation in the UNM Health Sciences Center and the American Society of Radiologic Technologists national headquarters in Albuquerque. Highlights will also include a Geiger-counter-assisted hunt for parts of a thermonuclear weapon accidentally dropped on UNM land in 1957, and an opportunity to collect some uranium ore near Grants.

Lectures and Demonstrations

Lectures and demonstrations will offer entertaining insight into nuclear topics from the foundational to the cutting edge. What does getting killed by a horse kick to the head have to do with radiation measurement? You'll find out (disclaimer: no participants will actually be kicked to death by horses). We will recreate important experiments by Curie, Roentgen, and Becquerel, and discuss the Monte Carlo method, properties of radiation, radioactive decay, chain reactions, and new materials for extreme environments. Lectures will be delivered by members of the UNM NE Faculty (Cassiano R. E. de Oliveira, Forrest Brown, Osman Anderoglu, Carl Willis, and others).