Competing against the University of Tennessee, the two teams delivered their design project presentations at ANS Winter Meeting held in Orlando, Florida. The winning students are Adam Darr, Antony Damico, Robby Kile, Christopher Copeland, Corey Ohneck, and Anna Biela. The faculty advisors for the team are Dr. Chan Choi and Dr. Martin Lopez-De-Bertodano.

The School of Nuclear Engineering Senior Design Team poses with faculty advisor, Dr. Chan Choi (left) and School Head, Dr. Seungjin Kim (right).

"Getting a chance to share our work at the ANS Winter Meeting was a really great opportunity," said Robby Kile, a student on the Purdue team. "I'm honored that, with the help of some great advisers, we were selected as winners of the undergraduate design competition."

The Purdue team won for their project for the Hydrogen Production Electrolysis Reactor (HYPER). This reactor was designed to produce electricity and hydrogen for industrial applications. By exploring the possibility of refueling a reactor without shutting down, HYPER is capable not only of generating hydrogen and electricity with a 62 percent efficiency -- about twice that of modern power plants -- but also of preventing the release of 800,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year.

"Winning at the national ANS senior design project competition is a remarkable achievement, and yet another testimony on the excellence of our students," exclaimed Dr. Seungjin Kim, McCarthy Head and Professor of the School of Nuclear Engineering. "I congratulate Team HYPER for an excellent job and teamwork. I would also like to thank the faculty instructors, Dr. Chan Choi and Dr. Martin Lopez-De-Bertodano for their dedicated mentoring."