Bio
Monica Gehrig received B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in nuclear engineering from Missouri University of Science and Technology in 2017 and 2022, respectively. She is a Research and Development Blanket Engineer in the Blanket and Fuel Cycle group in the Fusion Energy Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, formerly a participant in the DOE Fusion Energy Sciences Postdoctoral Program and worked as a student researcher and intern at Oak Ridge National Laboratory throughout her PhD studies. Her earlier research involved using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to study water-cooled high heat flux components for plasma facing components, and then for her main PhD work studied optimization of internal heat transfer enhancement features for helium cooling channels. Her current research is focused on thermal hydraulic modeling and CFD modeling for tritium breeding blankets. She is presently leading a project examining thermal, neutronic, and corrosion compatibility for a low-activation LiF-BeF2 molten salt tritium breeding blanket design. In addition to research activities, Dr. Gehrig is involved in professional societies in the nuclear fusion community. She currently serves as the Secretary/Treasurer for the American Nuclear Society Fusion Energy Division and is on the Fusion Technology Committee for IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society. She is engaged in outreach activities and serves as one of three chairpersons for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Fusion and Fission Energy and Sciences Directorate Education and Outreach Committee since 2022.
Education
PhD (2017 - 2022), BS (2013 - 2017) Missouri University of Science and Technology, Nuclear Engineering