Stylianos Chatzidakis, assistant professor of nuclear engineering at Purdue University, was among the College of Engineering faculty recognized for outstanding dedication to teaching in an Aug. 24 advertisement in the Purdue Exponent.

Seungjin Kim, the Capt. James F. McCarthy, Jr. and Cheryl E. McCarthy Head of the School of Nuclear Engineering, recently presented Distinguished Service Awards to Rusi Taleyarkhan, professor of nuclear engineering, and Kellie Reece, executive assistant to the Head.

Michael Streicher (BSNE ’12), president and chief operating officer of H3D Inc. in Ann Arbor, Michigan, has been named one of Purdue Engineering’s 38 by 38 honorees, recognizing exceptional alumni who have demonstrated significant achievement, rapid professional growth and meaningful impact in their fields by age 38.

The American Nuclear Society recently selected a team from Purdue Nuclear Engineering as one of four finalists in the 2026 ANS Student Design Competition, marking the second consecutive year that a Nuclear Engineering team has earned finalist recognition. The team will present its work, “Design of MaRCS Code: Modeling and Reduction of Californium Sources,” at the society’s November meeting in Phoenix, Arizona. The meeting’s theme is “Going Critical: Creating a Durable Nuclear Resurgence.”

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science’s Fusion Energy Sciences program has awarded $1,080,811 to Purdue University nuclear engineering professor Ahmed Hassanein to develop advanced materials capable of withstanding the extreme conditions inside future nuclear fusion reactors, addressing one of the most significant engineering challenges to making fusion energy a commercial reality.

Ahmed Hassanein, the Paul L. Wattelet Distinguished Professor of Nuclear Engineering and director of the Center for Materials under Extreme Environment (CMUXE), has been selected to receive the 2026 IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society (NPSS) Richard F. Shea Distinguished Member Award. The honor marks Hassanein’s fourth major international award and recognizes his decades of leadership, service and technical contributions to the fields of nuclear and plasma sciences.

Purdue nuclear engineering undergraduate student Charles Behrman has been named a Goldwater Scholar, a prestigious national award supporting students pursuing research careers in science and engineering.

A recap of the 2025-26 Purdue School of Nuclear Engineering Senior Design Projects, with student team members and project descriptions

Purdue NE's Rusi Taleyarkhan, has been inducted into the inaugural National Academy of Inventors Purdue Chapter, launched during the 2026 Startup and Technology Expo. He joins more than 70 faculty recognized for translating research into patented, real-world solutions.

A Purdue-led research project, headed by NE's Xiaoyuan Lou, is investigating how 3D-printed stainless steel performs inside nuclear reactors. Funded by the DOE and supported by national lab facilities, the three-year study will examine how radiation, heat, and corrosion impact additively manufactured materials—advancing safety, reliability, and future deployment of advanced nuclear energy systems while training the next generation of nuclear engineers.