<p>why isn't nuclear engineering popular?</p>
<p>just the name "nuclear engineering" conjures up images of world war II and einstein. i mean isn't that interesting? it is something that i would do but its such a hard major to find cause hardly anyone offers it.</p>
<p>It isn't popular because it's a niche market, and your career choices are fairly limited.</p>
<p>right now the demand for nuclear engineer is pretty high due to low on replacement for nuclear engineers in power plant that are retiring.</p>
<p>There is also all the nuclear imaging work - all those xray machines, etc. Not just power plants!</p>
<p>my dad is a nuclear engineer.. he does a ton of work internationally.. and yes he says that engineers are on incredible demand... but there are very few large research plants around the country... an nuclear engineers at U of I? (i will be)</p>
<p>I'm a nuclear engineering major. The main downside to it is that, as others have stated above, job opportunities are limited. However, there are many upsides. Nuclear engineering leads well into public policy. Nuclear engineers have a high average age, and as many retire, getting promoted isn't hard. It's also really easy to get a job when you graduate.</p>
<p>There's also a lot of opportunity for travel and international stuff. China (along with other countries) is building a lot of nuclear power plants. There's also the (enormous) ITER under construction in France.</p>
<p>Oh, and if my last post seems a bit inconsistent...I mean that there aren't a large number of places a nuclear engineer can work, but it's very easy to get jobs at those places.</p>
<p>but can't you work at military bases? you know.... building bombs and stuff...</p>
<p>my dad helped design ITER :) my family lived in Europe for four years because of his work...</p>
<p>What colleges offer nuclear engineering?</p>
<p>Nuclear weapons work is a very sensitive area and one certainly not to rely on for a job. It would probably be much more reasonable to work with nuclear medicine or electric power generation, either for the national electric grid or specialty applications such as space bound devices. I want to study nuclear engineering in grad school.</p>
<p>You can also work at places like the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). They do lots of analysis and policy-making. </p>
<p>Not that many colleges have a department specifically called "nuclear engineering". I know that MIT, Berkeley, and University of Washington do. Princeton has a very good plasma physis program, even though it's not referred to as "nuclear". Of course, you could always study something like mechanical engineering or physics for undergrad and then do nuclear engineering for grad school.</p>
<p>In my opinion, MIT has the best nuclear engineering program, even though it might be ranked #2 or #3. They have a fission reactor, a tokamak, and several other significant experiments. The MIT Plasma Science & Fusion Center is very well-known for its research. Many of the professors are very influential in the nuclear industry.</p>
<p>Of course, I'm biased because I'm in the MIT nuclear engineering department.</p>
<p>How is UIUC's nuclear program ranked??? Any good/bad words to share... i don't know what to expect next year...</p>
<p>Illinois ranks #11 in graduate ranking of Nuclear engineering. (Undergrad is unavailable, but it should be similar.)</p>
<p>Schools of Engineering - 5
Aeronautical/Astronautical 7 *
Chemical 12
Civil 1 *
Computer Engineering 5
Electrical/Electronic/Communications 4
Environmental/Environmental Hlth 5 *
Industrial/Manufacturing 20 *
Materials 2
Mechanical 5 *
Nuclear 11 * </p>
<p>From: "<a href="http://www.publicaffairs.uiuc.edu/rankings/usnewsgrad.htm">http://www.publicaffairs.uiuc.edu/rankings/usnewsgrad.htm</a>"</p>
<p>Wisconsin has a top program in nuclear engineering.</p>
<p>But here is a list of US colleges that offer nuclear engineering as a degree. Note that not at all of them offer a BS, a few are just graduate programs. </p>
<p>
[quote]
Air Force Institute of Technology<br>
Kansas State University<br>
Georgia Institute of Technology<br>
Idaho State University<br>
Massachusetts Institute of Technology<br>
North Carolina State University<br>
Ohio State University<br>
Oregon State University<br>
Pennsylvania State University<br>
Purdue University<br>
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute<br>
Texas A&M University<br>
University of California, Berkeley<br>
University of Cincinnati<br>
University of Florida<br>
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign<br>
University of Maryland, College Park<br>
University of Massachusetts Lowell<br>
University of Michigan Ann Arbor<br>
University of Missouri–Columbia<br>
University of Missouri–Rolla<br>
University of New Mexico<br>
University of Tennessee at Knoxville<br>
University of South Carolina<br>
University of Texas at Austin<br>
University of Wisconsin-Madison<br>
United States Naval Academy<br>
United States Military Academy<br>
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Nuclear engineering is pretty much ran full scale by the US navy(navy Nuke), if you want to become a nuclear engineer and really get into the governmental and other secure areas of Nuclear then your only option is the navy. I will warn you, I know many people who went into the navy nuke program and dropped out because it was ridiculously insane. My good friend ray who is a EE major with me, is a Navy Nuke drop out, he had a 4.0 GPA and never studies, he says it was the discipline he got from the navy, as the academics were just that tough. He says engineering in college is like elementary school in comparison. My uncle and cousin both testify to this. Both of them are engineers who later joined the Navy.</p>
<p>They don't just do Navy stuff, they do everything in the US related to Nuclear, and even as a engineer, you don't and never will come as close to it as you will as if you were in the navy. </p>
<p>You can go to a nuclear engineering school, but like i said, you will never really be a nuclear engineer. they don't let civilians do that anymore.</p>
<p>Michigan State has one of the top nuclear engineering programs in the USA. It ranks w/ UChicago and MIT (for many rankers, including USN&WR, of which I’m often suspect, it’s usually just MIT, and among insiders, MIT often is there based as much on the “halo effect” of its uber-rep moreso than its actual accomplishments in this field). MSU's programs only include grad schools, however, a number of top undergrad physics-astronomy majors intern at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Lab -- among most powerful in the world (the most powerful on any college campus) funded by the Nat'l Science Foundation.</p>
<p>Here's the link:
<a href="http://www.nscl.msu.edu/%5B/url%5D">http://www.nscl.msu.edu/</a></p>
<p>A (current physics student's) post from StudentsReview.com:</p>
<p>State likes to brag about the study abroad program, I haven't had a chance to be a part it of yet, but from hearsay I believe is quite excellent. What I do know a bit about is their physics and astronomy department. I don't knowledge to compare it with other schools, but it is a fantastic program.</p>
<p>READ THIS IF YOU WANT To KNOW ABOUT PHYSICS</p>
<p>The physics department is bolstered by the presence of the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, a premier facility for the research of rare isotopes (for studying questions like the origin of the heavy elements). What's more, it is possible for undergraduate students to get involved with research. The department is large but it has fantastic professors. Students seem friendly, from what I hear from the upperclassmen that I know there is much working together so it's not likely to be cut-throat. Moreover, I believe the program commands a bit of respect; if you do well, get involved and establish relationships with some professors you will have a solid application if you wish apply to grad school-so don't over look this place because it is not one of the "big name" universities.</p>
<p>READ THIS IF YOU DON'T CARE TO KNOW ABOUT PHYSICS OR IF YOU ARE READING IT ALL</p>
<p>State has a beautiful campus, many gardens, innumerable trees, and varying architecture. It's got a planetarium-how cool is that?-which is pretty neat, I've gone there so I know. The school of music has concerts which are most often free too. Those are some things you don't really hear about- intrinsic benefits of going there. </p>
<p>The Lyman Briggs School of Science is a good program for those interested in science, especially pre-professional paths. Classes are in the dorm in which you'll probably live as part of the program, and it is quite convenient to be a flight of stairs away from the chem lab...if the lab is at 8AM. </p>
<p>In sum, don't sell this school short, its worth a good look and so far I'm quite happy I went there. Education Quality: A+, Scholastic Success: F More →<br>
Forward </p>
<p>Jan 05 2007 1st Year Male Class 2009</p>
<p>"You can go to a nuclear engineering school, but like i said, you will never really be a nuclear engineer. they don't let civilians do that anymore."</p>
<p>Um...no. Just no. It IS true that they don't let people without security clearances work with nuclear WEAPONS, but (1) civilians can get security clearances and (2) there is a lot more to nuclear engineering than bombs. </p>
<p>I know an undergrad who interned at a national lab and worked with nuclear weapons. Of course he got a pretty thorough security clearance, but he's definitely not in the military. Many of my professors have worked with nuclear weapons. You do NOT have to be IN the military to do this stuff.</p>
<p>Also, nuclear weaponry is a small subfield of nuclear engineering. There's also commercial nuclear power, nuclear waste disposal, fusion research and plasma physics, biological effects of radiation, etc.</p>