Noel B Nelson

R&D Assistant Staff Member - Space Nuclear Systems

I received my honors baccalaureate of science degree in nuclear engineering from Oregon State University in 2012.  I received my master's degree and Ph.D from North Carolina State University in 2014 and 2018, respectively.  I joined Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in 2020 as a junior researcher.  At ORNL, I specialize in radiation shielding, neutronic analysis, and nuclear system design and optimization.  I have worked on accelerator driven subcritical assemblies, radioisotope power systems, and radiation visualization through augmented reality.  I have experience using gradient and non-gradient based optimization methods (including Sandia National Laboratories' optimization toolbox DAKOTA).