Dayron Chigin (Electrical Engineering)

Dayron Chigin (Electrical Engineering)

About DOE Fellow

Dayron Chigin graduated in the fall of 2014 with a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from Florida International University (FIU) and is currently pursuing his Master of Science in electrical engineering. Shortly after leaving the program, Dayron was hired by Florida Power & Light.

Dayron’s professional interests include power systems, control systems, integrated nano-technology, and communications. During his undergraduate career, he qualified for Dean’s List during multiple semesters. Dayron was a recipient of Florida International University’s Academic Excellence Scholarship Award along with a full Bright Futures Scholarship for unsurpassed academic excellence.

Dayron is a member of Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society for being part of the top 10% of students academically. At the same time, the McNair Fellows program also recognized Dayron Chigin as a recipient of academic excellence. He also participates in professional societies such as the Society for Hispanic and Professional Engineers and Delta Epsilon Iota Honor Society, which recognizes individuals with an average university grade of 3.30 or above. Dayron is also known as a Founding Father of the Iota Omicron chapter of Theta Chi fraternity at FIU, which was originally founded in 1856. Within this fraternity, Dayron takes part in multiple philanthropic events such as FIU’s Nature Preserve Program, FIU’s Relay for Life, Beach Clean Up, and Cheers for Troops. Dayron is also an active participant in other events such as Baptist Hospital’s Relay for Life and the Ronald McDonald House.

At FIU, Dayron is a DOE-Fellow at the Applied Research Center (ARC). With the help of his mentors Dr. David Roelant and Dr. Dwayne McDaniel, Dayron’s research at ARC entails using commercial sonar technology to monitor the residual waste in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hanford Site high-level-waste staging tanks, with primary focus on the detection and imaging of the settled solids at specified areas of interest along the tank surface within a limited amount of time.

DOE Related Research and Projects
As an undergraduate, Dayron has been competitively selected as a DOE Fellow for the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Science and Technology Workforce Development program under the guidance of his mentors, Dr. David Roelant and Dr. Dwayne McDaniel. This program is part of a $24 million Cooperative Agreement (DE-EM0000598) between DOE and Florida International University. As a DOE Fellow, Dayron’s research consists of using commercial sonar technology to monitor residual waste in the United States Department of Energy’s (DOE) Hanford Site high-level-waste staging tanks, with primary focus on the detection and imaging of the settled solids at specified areas of interest along the tank surface within a limited amount of time.

DOE Summer Internship
During the summer of 2013, Dayron interned for Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS), a contractor to the United States Department of Energy. During this time, Dayron was under the guidance of Ruben Mendoza (Manager, Waste Transfer and Storage Engineering) and Richard E. Nelson (Electrical Engineer). During his time at the Hanford Site in Richland, Washington, various tasks were completed in order to support the Waste Transfer and Storage Engineering department for WRPS. These tasks consisted of generating Preventative Maintenance (PM) procedures and Engineering Change Notices (ECN’s) that were crucial to the safety and continued operations of the Hanford Site. These tasks were also essential for the preparation of the next 242A-Evaporator campaign. Evaporator campaigns are conducted in order to create space within the double-shell tanks (DST) on the site by removing excess condensation from the waste. One of the most difficult tasks consisted of the compilation of a set of PM procedures for the sensors embedded within the PC-5000 condensate transfer line extending between the 242A-Evaporator and the Liquid Effluent Retention Facility (LERF). This task was imperative for the monitoring and diagnostic of the PC-5000 line.  At the end, all of the ECN and PM were approved and would go into effect in a safe and efficient manner.