In the 20th century, miners resorted to using canaries to detect poisonous gasses like carbon monoxide before entering a mine. Thankfully, technology has evolved and now robots can be sent into the field, making certain jobs safer for humans — and animals — alike.

In a parking lot outside the Stan Fulton building, the UNLV-led Nuclear Security Science and Technology Consortium (NSSTC) recently demonstrated how faculty-student research, in collaboration with national labs, is developing future technologies — and the future workforce.

The exercise, which included a team from Nevada National Security Sites (NNSS), focused on remote sensing of radiation using robots. During the demonstration, students used ground robots and unmanned aerial systems (drones) to detect 100 sealed radiation sources scattered across the test site, imitating a radiation accident or spill. The goal was to sense radiation remotely in a way that could be used in the future to access hard-to-reach areas or gather data without exposing people to radiation. 

“We want the drones to rapidly get to the source and map the radiation field to make the area safe for ground operators,” said Woosoon Yim, mechanical engineering professor at UNLV and a co-principal investigator for NSSTC. 

The robots equipped with radiation detectors transmitted data to laptops, where researchers — from a safe distance — could view the incoming data in real-time. This allowed them to identify the type of radiation and position of the radiation-emitting source, analyze it, and assess the situation. 

 “All of the radiation data we collected allows us to form a realistic simulation environment,” said Yim. “Using the data, we can fly the drone in the computer simulation many times, checking each algorithm to see which is most effective.”

UNLV College of Engineering alum Matthew Hodges, ’15 MSE  and ’17 PhD, monitored the data as it came in. He is now a scientist with Remote Sensing Laboratory (RSL), which is part of NNSS, at Nellis Air Force Base.

“One of our detectors is on the big drone, and we are seeing data coming in clear regardless of how high it is flying,” said Hodges. “Everything's coming in real time so I think the experiment is a success.”

Hodges chose UNLV because it is one of only a few engineering programs in the United States that allows students the opportunity to conduct nuclear engineering research in a premier lab space.

“We didn’t have a nuclear engineering program at Arizona State,” he said. “So, that’s why I wanted to come to UNLV. You get to work on new projects, and, of course — at least for me — the goal was to get a job, ideally at RSL, and eventually I made that move.”

Nuclear Security Science and Technology Consortium

Hodges is a success story for NSSTC, which aims to build a workforce pipeline between the U.S. Department of Energy’s labs and Minority-Serving Institutions. 

Under the direction of Alexander Barzilov, a UNLV mechanical engineering professor, the consortium was started in 2021 with $3 million in funding from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and its Minority-Serving Institution Partnership Program. 

The NSSTC includes three universities and three national laboratories: UNLV, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of New Mexico, Nevada National Security Sites, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Argonne National Laboratory. 

One of the consortium’s goals is to encourage minority students to pursue STEM careers through doctoral programs in nuclear engineering, radiochemistry, mechanical engineering, physics, and electrical/computer engineering. 

The NSSTC funds nine doctoral student positions that include paid tuition, a research assistant salary during the academic year, and a full-time internship during the summer at a national lab. Five of those positions are guaranteed to go to UNLV students, Barzilov noted. Three students are at NNSS and one each at the national labs. 

“We support our students and their careers. In our [student-to-national-lab-scientist interaction model], my former students become my colleagues, and we still work together; except now it is a different role for them.”

Barzilov said through projects like the drone exercise, researchers are able to develop technology that can be deployed in the field.

“Our field this time was a parking lot, and it was a great experience for our students to participate in this unique experiment,” he said.

Looking toward the future

The exercise also gives students an opportunity to interact with potential future employers. NNSS President Garrett “Sack” Harencak visited the project site, too, and was impressed with the scope and organization of the demonstration. 

Sanjoy Mukhopadhyay, senior principal scientist at NNSS, said the team accomplished all of its objectives and collected a large amount of data, remarking that the collaboration involved “great synergy” between all of the collaborating organizations.

The current NSSTC grant is nearing the end of its three-year term, and work is already underway to continue the effort. The NSSTC 2.0 proposal, requesting five more years and $5 million, has already been submitted. 

“In the past three years, we have developed a lot of good cohesive projects that we will continue at a more advanced level with NSSTC 2.0,” Barzilov said. “I do believe we have developed the ideal consortium model with three national laboratories as nuclear security enterprise (NSE) partners, and three universities as academic partners. Each part is important to the consortium.”

There is a high demand for graduates who already have the experience needed to work at the labs, Barzilov said. Mukhopadhyay often reaches out to him looking for more students to work at the NNSS. Students in the NSSTC program work shoulder to shoulder with researchers at the labs giving them the exposure and experience they need to get a job. 

“That’s how a lot of researchers know our students,” said Barzilov. “That’s how it works. It creates a pipeline, and the students have a job offer before they graduate because everyone knows them. During the program, they’ve worked at the labs for three summers, on different projects, but with the same research team. They have access to expertise and unique instrumentation that can only be accessed in the national lab and this is made possible due to the NSSTC grant.” 

He stresses that is why the extension of the grant is so important. 

“This prepares students. They graduate and go to work at the labs here or in other organizations and then we get new students. Funding is important because it supports the pipeline.”

Hodges, for example, started his job at NNSS one week after he graduated.

“It’s a great pipeline,” said Hodges. “I can’t think of one student who has graduated with a nuclear engineering master's or emphasis area Ph.D. who hasn’t gone on to work for the site at one time or another or at another national lab. You are not guaranteed a job, but the exposure you get and the networking in the context of people ensures that if you do good work and you are a solid student they’ll take a look at you."