DOE Fellows from the DOE Science and Technology Workforce Development Program at the Applied Research Center (ARC) at Florida International University (FIU) are making preparation to participate in the upcoming Waste Management 2014 Conference (WM14) in Phoenix, AZ, from March 2-6, 2014. A total of twenty (20) DOE Fellows and other FIU students will attend WM14 and will present nineteen (19) technical posters during Session 31 (Student Poster Competition: The Next Generation – Industry Leaders of Tomorrow) scheduled for Monday, March 3, 2014. The Fellows will be presenting their DOE-EM research that they have performed at FIU’s ARC and during their summer internships at DOE sites, national laboratories, and site contractors. In addition, 1 Ph.D. level DOE Fellow will present her research during the professional oral session 64 (Deep Vadose Zone Characterization and Remediation Technologies) on Tuesday, March 4, 2014:
- The Effect of Ca Ions on the Removal of U(VI) via In Situ Ammonia Gas Injection at the Hanford Site 200 Area (14434), Yelena Katsenovich, Claudia Cardona (DOE Fellow), Leo Lagos. Presenter: Claudia Cardona (DOE Fellow)
The student posters include:
- Innovative High-Level Waste Pipeline Unplugging Technologies for Hanford Site (Asynchronous Pulsing) – Alexandra Fleitas (DOE Fellow)
- Rapid Imaging of Settled Solids in Hanford HLW Staging Tanks – Dayron Chigin (DOE Fellow)
- Computational Simulation and Evolution of High-Level Waste Pipeline Plugs – Deanna M. Moya (DOE Fellow)
- U.S. Low Level and Mixed Low Level Waste Treatment Technology Identification – Gabriela Vazquez (DOE Fellow)
- Analysis of Life Expectancy for Waste Transfer Lines Located at Hanford Site – Jennifer Arniella (DOE Fellow)
- Investigation of Permanent and Removable Coatings for Decontamination of Savannah River Site (SRS) Plutonium Fuel Form Facility – Mariana Evora (DOE Fellow)
- Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulations of Fluid Transients in a Pipeline at Hanford Site–Michael Abbott (DOE Fellow)
- Display of Contaminated Locations at Oak Ridge site using ArcGIS – Michelle Embon(DOE Fellow)
- A Study of Cell Viability on DOE Hanford Soil Isolates: Effect of U (VI) and Bicarbonate –Paola Sepulveda-Medina (DOE Fellow)
- Native Android Application for Deactivation & Decommissioning Technologies –Chandrashekar Gama Deshika Swamy (FIU Graduate Student)
- Performance Evaluation of Mobile Applications with Deactivation & Decommissioning (D&D) Technology Services – Revathy Venkataraman (DOE Fellow)
- Characterization of the Uranium-Bearing Products of Novel Remediation Technologies –Robert Lapierre (DOE Fellow)
- Design and Development of Geographical Information System (GIS) Map for DOE Waste Streams – Sandhya Appunni (FIU Graduate Student)
- GPU Accelerated Lattice-Boltzmann Method for Fluid Flows in Nuclear Waste Tanks at Hanford Site – Sasha Philius (DOE Fellow)
- Development of REST Services for Populating ESRI’s ArcGIS Spatial Modeling Applications – Steve Noel (DOE Fellow)
- Microcosm Study on Mineralogical Changes of Post-Molasses Injection with Savannah River Site (SRS) F-area – Valentina Padilla (DOE Fellow)
- Engineering Scale Pipeline Unplugging Testing Using the Improved Peristaltic Crawler System for Removal of High Level Waste Plugs at Hanford Site Pipelines – Carmela Vallalta (DOE Fellow)
- The Effects of Silica and Humic Acid on U(VI) Removal from Savannah River Site (SRS) F/H Area Groundwater – Joel McGill (DOE Fellow)
- Environmental Remediation Optimization: Cost Savings, Footprint Reduction, and Sustainability Benchmarked on DOE Sites – Natalia Duque (DOE Fellow)
In preparation for the conference, the DOE Fellows are preparing written biographies and video introductions (see preview below) as well as developing their technical posters and presentation materials.
Duriem Calderin (Biomedical Engineering) – Class of 2008 – ALUMNI
Also during the conference, one (1) DOE Fellow (Gabriela Vasquez) will participate in a panel session, Session 44 on “Graduating Students and New Engineers – Wants and Needs.” During this panel session, students and industry and government representatives will share their perspectives of the newer generation entering a workforce primarily occupied by workers nearing retirement age. In addition, a former DOE Fellow (Duriem Calderin – Class of 2008) is returning to WM14 and participating in Session 45 “Young Professional in Nuclear Science & Engineering.” Duriem is working as an engineer at AREVA NP Inc’s Thermal Hydraulic Group in Richland, WA. Duriem will discuss his first step as a young engineer in the nuclear industry and his experience as a DOE Fellow.
The DOE Fellows will also have the opportunity to participate as Student Assistants at the conference and help conference organizers and presenters during the technical sessions.
The DOE-FIU Science and Technology Workforce Development Initiative is an innovative program between the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management and Florida International University’s Applied Research Center designed to create a “pipeline” of minority engineers specifically trained and mentored to enter the Department of Energy workforce in technical areas of need. This innovative program was designed to help address DOE’s future workforce needs by partnering with academic, government and DOE contractor organizations to mentor future minority scientists and engineers in the research, development, and deployment of new technologies addressing DOE’s environmental cleanup challenges. Students selected as DOE Fellows perform research at FIU and at a DOE site. Upon graduation and completion of this fellowship, the students seek employment with DOE as well as other government agencies, DOE contractors, and private industry.
Additional information about the DOE-FIU Science and Technology Workforce Development Initiative can be obtained by contacting Dr. Leonel Lagos (ARC Director of Research) at (305) 348-1810 or lagosl@fiu.edu.