In 2010, Lee Brady graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Florida International University (FIU). He continued his education at FIU where he later earned a master’s degree in engineering management in the spring of 2012.
When inducted into the DOE/FIU Science & Technology Workforce Development Initiative in the fall of 2008, he dedicated his time to a project designed to solve operational shortcomings in the current high-level waste processing strategy at the Hanford Site; specifically, the ability to unplug blocked high-level waste pipelines. From 2008-2010, he worked under the supervision of Dr. Dwayne McDaniel and Mr. Tomas Pribanic. During his senior year, with support from Mr. Pribanic and DOE Fellow Jose Matos, he successfully designed and produced the 1st functional prototype of a pneumatic crawler for unplugging radioactive waste under the metrics prescribed by the Hanford Site. The pneumatic crawler was also used for his senior design project which was titledPeristaltic Crawler for the Removal of Radioactive Plugs. The success of the prototype has paved the way for continued efforts in the development of additional prototypes thereafter. As of May 2012, the 3rd generation crawler was developed and featured major improvements to its structure and pneumatic operating system.
In 2009, Mr. Brady was a test engineering intern for NuVision Engineering, Inc., in Mooresville, N.C. Mr. Brady worked closely with the lead engineers to evaluate the performance during testing and modify the methods, parameters, and procedures as required. The goal of the testing was to demonstrate that NuVision’s Power Fluidics™ technology is a viable mixing option to promote a fresh boundary layer, necessary for dilute-chemistry acid cleaning in the high-level waste tanks located at the Savannah River Site. When not contributing as a test engineer intern, Mr. Brady provided NuVision Engineering with 3D modeling and animations.
As an engineering management student during 2010-2012, Mr. Brady contributed to multiple projects. He worked under Dr. Leonel Lagos, transcribing multiple lessons learned and best practice documents for the Energy Facility Contractors Group. Under Mr. Himanshu Upadhyay, he performed database quality control testing to the online Waste Information Management System (WIMS), ensuring a consistent high level of database accuracy. He was also significantly involved in identifying and adding D&D vendors from the Waste Management Symposia 2011 and Nuclear Plant Journal Product and Service Directory 2012 to the vendor module of the D&D KM-IT (dndkm.org).
Over his four year tenure as a DOE Fellow, Mr. Brady presented his work in the 2010, 2011 and 2012 Waste Management Symposia in Phoenix, AZ. He also presented his work during the DOE Fellows Poster Exhibitions and won third place in 2010 for his research on the Peristaltic Crawler for the Removal of High Level Waste Plugs. He was involved in many other DOE Fellows’ events and organized a few, including the DOE Fellows recruitment.
In 2011, Mr. Brady was one of six DOE Fellows to apply to the Student Career Experience Program (SCEP). From those six applicants, Mr. Brady and two other DOE Fellows were accepted. His appointment began on May 8, 2011, in Washington, D.C. While in DC, he was involved in a broad range of program elements that included identification and development of new technologies for deactivation and decommissioning (D&D); D&D programmatic, policy, and guidance elements; and sustainability and greenhouse gas emission reduction. He aided in the development of several lessons learned documents for the demolition of the Brookhaven Graphite Research Reactor’s bioshield. He also investigated non-destructive tests for characterizing concrete and alternative technologies for the demolition of unique high density concrete containing steel in confined spaces. After his SCEP summer assignment at DOE-HQ, Mr. Brady returned to FIU and to the DOE Fellows program. He also continued pursuing his master’s degree in engineering management and successfully graduated in April of 2012.
He will return to DOE-HQ on August 27, 2012, and will be converted into a full-time federal employee working for the Office of Deactivation and Decommissioning (D&D) and Facility Engineering (EM-13) under the direction and supervision of Mr. Andrew Szilagyi.