Nuclear Engineering Graduate Receives Distinguished Engineering Alumni/Alumnae Award

Dr. Terry Grimm (BSNE ’87) is selected as one of the recipients for 2019 College of Engineering Distinguished Engineering Alumni/Alumnae (DEA) Award. The honor is presented to “men and women who have distinguished themselves in any field in ways that reflect favorably on Purdue University, the engineering profession, or society in general,” and is the highest honor that the College bestows to an Engineering alumnus/alumna.
Dr. Terry Grimm receives the 2019 College of Engineering Distinguished Engineering Alumni/Alumnae (DEA) Award. Also pictured: Dr. Seungjin Kim, Capt. James F. McCarthy, Jr. and Cheryl E. McCarthy Head and Professor of the School of Nuclear Engineering (left) and Dr. Chan Choi, Professor, Nuclear Engineering (right).

Grimm received his Bachelor of Science with the highest distinction in Nuclear Engineering from Purdue University in 1987. He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he received his Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering and Plasma Physics in 1992.

Grimm developed particle accelerators for the Department of Energy and NSF (Superconducting Super Collider, National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory and Facility for Rare Isotope Beams). In 2005, Grimm founded Niowave, Inc., a worldwide leader in research, development, and deployment of superconducting particle accelerators, to commercialize superconducting electron linear accelerators in fields as diverse as healthcare and national security. Niowave, for example, produces radioisotopes to cure cancer.

In 2010, Niowave, Inc. was named as a Department of Energy Small Business of the Year and Grimm received the IEEE Entrepreneurship Award for Applied Superconductivity. Niowave is fully licensed to build and test superconducting linear accelerators in its own facility, as well as deliver and commission complete accelerator systems for its customers.

Grimm has said that Purdue provided him a solid foundation in engineering, something he has cherished his entire illustrious career. “I found my education at Purdue to be truly world-class,” Grimm said, “With my undergraduate experience at Purdue, I found I could compete with the brightest minds at MIT and at government research labs worldwide.”

“Grimm has been a great supporter of our school in many ways, including providing funding for graduate research, participating as graduate faculty, and serving as a member of Nuclear Engineering Advisory Board,” said Dr. Seungjin Kim, Capt. James F. McCarthy, Jr. and Cheryl E. McCarthy Head and Professor of the School of Nuclear Engineering. “We are also grateful for his support toward our undergraduate education,” Kim added, “Niowave has been one of our co-op employers and is currently one of the industry sponsors of our senior capstone design projects.”