The next Head of the School of Nuclear Engineering

To:       Executive Vice Presidents, Chancellors, Vice Presidents, Vice Chancellors, Vice Provosts, Deans, Directors and Heads of Schools, Divisions and Offices

From:   Leah H. Jamieson, The John A. Edwardson Dean, College of Engineering

Date:    April 20, 2017

Re:       The next Head of the School of Nuclear Engineering

I am pleased to announce that Dr. Seungjin Kim will be the next Head of the School of Nuclear Engineering, effective June 1, 2017. A leading researcher in reactor thermal-hydraulics and two-phase flow who also has strong records in teaching and professional service, Seungjin brings to the position a commitment to excellence and a love for Purdue. I know that NE will flourish under his leadership.

Dr. Kim is currently a Professor of Nuclear Engineering and Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Pennsylvania State University (PSU). He is also the director of the Advanced Multiphase Flow Laboratory of PSU. His research expertise is in the areas of reactor thermal-hydraulics, two-phase flow experiments and modeling, advanced instrumentation development, reactor system analysis code and reactor safety. Kim’s research has led to the development of the interfacial area transport equation that has been implemented in the FLUENT commercial computational fluid dynamics code for two-phase flow simulation, as well as into the TRACE code employed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for thermal-hydraulic analysis of nuclear reactor systems. His work on advanced two-phase flow instrumentation has made significant impact on two-phase flow experimental capabilities and is now being employed widely by many international research groups. Kim received the Outstanding Teaching Award from Penn State Engineering Alumni Society in 2011. He has taken leadership positions in his field of expertise and serves as Chair of the American Nuclear Society Thermal Hydraulics Division.

Dr. Kim is an alumnus of Purdue University, with a PhD from Nuclear Engineering in 1999 and an MS from Electrical and Computer Engineering in 1992. 

Kim succeeds Professor Ahmed Hassanein, who served as head from 2009-2015. Klod Kokini, Associate Dean of Engineering for Academic Affairs and Professor of Mechanical Engineering, served as interim head of Nuclear Engineering since January 2016.