![\"hb?0496-a-ervin.jpg\"](\"http:\/\/ezing.me\/transfer\/wp-content\/uploads\/stories\/12-2008-b\/hb?0496-a-ervin.jpg\" "\\"hb?0496-a-ervin.jpg\\"")
<\/p>\n\nOXFORD,
\nMiss. – With global efforts intensifying to find alternatives to fossil
\nfuels, the University of Mississippi is pointing students toward career
\nopportunities in nuclear engineering.<\/p>\n
With funds from a Nuclear
\nRegulatory Commission education grant, UM’s Department of Civil
\nEngineering has created the course Introduction to Nuclear Engineering.
\nThe multidisciplinary technical course is to be offered as an elective
\nto seniors and first-year graduate students beginning fall 2009.<\/p>\n
“The
\nworld’s energy crisis is deepening as population grows and oil prices
\nskyrocket,” said Elizabeth Ervin, a civil engineering professor who
\nauthored the proposal and created the class. “As more and more
\ncountries turn to nuclear plants to ease their power grids, the demand
\nfor qualified graduates in nuclear-related industries increases. The
\nUniversity of Mississippi needs to provide future engineers the
\nopportunity to choose their careers in the nuclear industry.”\n<\/p>\n
Ervin’s impetus for the course was a mixture of her own professional experience, a desire to expand engineering curricula and established collaboration with both Entergy and Southern Nuclear Operating Co.<\/p>\n
“When I came to the university in 2006, I brought with me five years of experience with the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program,” Ervin said. “While I don’t have a commercial nuclear background, I have proficiency and can rapidly develop expertise in this area.”<\/p>\n
While lecturing on nuclear engineering for the spring 2008 course Global Warming, organized by chemical engineering professor Wei-Yin Chin, Ervin said she learned that student demand for this new course existed in all areas of engineering. She anticipates that enrollment for the inaugural class will range from 25 to 99 students.<\/p>\n
“Due to public fears and mishaps, nuclear energy has been demonized in the media,” she said. “However, public attitudes are changing with increased rolling blackouts and energy costs.”<\/p>\n
Students taking the course will learn facts – not fiction – regarding the nuclear industry and be able to make informed decisions, Ervin said. Among those facts: careers in nuclear-related industry can be quite lucrative, especially for engineers.<\/p>\n
“U.S. Department of Labor statistics show that engineers in the nuclear industry command the third-highest salaries of all engineers,” Ervin said. “Nuclear engineer salaries range from $90,000 to $124,000 annually.”<\/p>\n
Students will be trained for introductory positions at the 32 U.S. nuclear operating companies and four manufacturing companies. Potential jobs vary from plant design and operation to environmental-effect research.<\/p>\n
The new academic offering has already received strong support from university administrators, as well as School of Engineering faculty and staff.<\/p>\n
“This project satisfies several of the civil engineering department’s long-range goals, most specifically, improving and maintaining an effective, state-of-the-art undergraduate curriculum,” said Alexander H.D. Cheng, chair and professor of civil engineering. “This project is sustainable for future offerings, which will most certainly aid in maintaining accreditation with the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology.”<\/p>\n
For more information about civil engineering at UM, call 662-915-5362 or visit http:\/\/www.olemiss.edu\/depts\/civil?eng<\/a>\u00a0.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"