Meet Nicholas in Nuclear Engineering
What do you enjoy most about the College?
It is so well known and has such proud alumni you can’t go to any professional conference without interacting with someone affiliated with Illinois. I have been sought by recruiters simply because I was an Illinois engineer; my major wasn’t even relevant to those companies.
Nuclear Engineering, Sophomore
Activities – Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, Hoeft
Technology and Management Program, Illinois Scholars Undergraduate Researcher
What impresses you most about the College?
Some of the things that students do are unbelievable! They are entrepreneurs, they design robots, they create clean water systems – everything. It is truly astounding how people here maximize their education.
Why do you belong at Illinois?
Illinois has become my home. My friends here have become my family. 24 hours a day I am either in class, in the research lab, or with on-campus organizations. Illinois is all encompassing and whenever I go home, I’m thinking about when I’ll be back here.
What is your advice to incoming freshmen?
Start working on the highest GPA possible because classes are only going to get harder. Also, get involved with an organization relevant to your major; you will learn crucial networking skills that you’ll need in order to differentiate yourself and secure internships early.
Describe your research.
I’ve done research at the Center for Plasma Materials Interactions with Professor Ruzic. The goal is to develop high quality thin film solar cells by means of PECVD, which is planned to increase the quality of solar cells and lower the cost.
Have you held an internship?
I interned with Exelon Generation at the corporate office in Warrenville, IL, and worked in the PWR Core Design group. My project was to create a core mapping with higher enriched uranium and analyze power outputs and cost savings. I will be returning to the company to work in the Reactor Engineering Group.
What is campus life like for an engineer?
Engineers do have social lives, and the best way to see that is by viewing the engineering Quad. In between classes, you will see people playing catch, frisbee, laying in the grass, and relaxing.
Where is the best place to eat on campus?
Merry Anne’s Diner
What has been your favorite place to live on campus?
Lundgren Hall. It is close to the Ike and the ARC, perfect.
As a nuclear engineering student, I didn’t really take classes within the department until about junior year or so. Part of this is because I was taking classes that every engineering student takes (i.e. Calculus, Physics), but also because NPRE majors also have to take courses from other departments (such as Thermodynamics – ME 300 and Circuits – ECE 205&206). Some people may see this as a disadvantage, but I think this could help students market themselves to companies who seek MechEs or EEs.
I’d say that freshman year, I had more classes in a given day, 3-4 hours a day (2 if I was lucky). However, after making the decision to postpone graduation by a year (a decision I made after sophomore year), I would say that 2-3 hours was the norm, with the exception being days when I had lab classes.
When I participated in undergraduate research, I was required to do 10 hours a week for the program I was in. This translated into about 3 hours twice a week and 4 hours on Friday, with the occasional weekend. However, if doing research for pay, it really depends on what fits in your schedule and what the needs of the lab are.
For time in the library/studying, I’d usually just aim to complete assignments with peers so that we could learn together. Often, we’d work until the assignment was completed, so usually 3-6 hours per assignment. So that quantity multiplied by the number of assignments should give an expectation of time spent studying/doing work.
Even with all of this, there is still plenty of time to be involved. I have been involved with Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), American Nuclear Society (ANS), Engineering Open House (EOH), Engineering Council (EC), the Morrill Engineering Program (MEP), and have had part time jobs. Sometimes you just have to double-dip with your to-do list. For example, if you want to get involved with an organization, and they’re having a meeting with food (probably pizza), then you won’t need to go back to the dining hall or apartment to go eat.
the information above is really helpful.
However , a more detailed experience as a nuclear engineer would be really appreciated
like class hours on an average day , hours spent in research labs / libraries and time left for other ‘non-study’ activities.
I will be joining this fall for npre and any other tips would be a great help. .