{"id":76303,"date":"2025-03-26T02:39:01","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T06:39:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=76303"},"modified":"2025-03-26T02:39:01","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T06:39:01","slug":"engineering-students-explore-how-to-ethically-design-and-locate-nuclear-facilities-in-this-college-course","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/engineering-students-explore-how-to-ethically-design-and-locate-nuclear-facilities-in-this-college-course\/","title":{"rendered":"Engineering students explore how to ethically design and locate nuclear facilities in this college course"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Title of course:<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Socially Engaged Design of Nuclear Energy Technologies<\/p>\n

What prompted the idea for the course?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The two of us had some experience with participatory design coming into this course, and we had a shared interest in bringing\u00a0virtual reality<\/a>\u00a0into a first-year design class at the University of Michigan.<\/p>\n

It seemed like a good fit to help students learn about nuclear technologies, given that hands-on experience can be difficult to provide in that context. We both wanted to teach students about the social and environmental implications of engineering work, too.<\/p>\n

Aditi is a nuclear engineer and had been using\u00a0participatory design in her research<\/a>, and Katie had been\u00a0teaching ethics and design<\/a>\u00a0to engineering students for many years.<\/p>\n

What does the course explore?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Broadly, the course explores engineering design. We introduce our students to the principles of nuclear engineering and energy systems design, and we go\u00a0through ethical concerns<\/a>. They also learn communication strategies \u2013 like writing for different audiences.<\/p>\n

Students learn to design the exterior features of nuclear energy facilities in collaboration with local communities. The course focuses on a different nuclear energy technology each year.<\/p>\n

In the first year, the focus was on\u00a0fusion energy systems<\/a>. In fall 2024, we looked at locating\u00a0nuclear microreactors<\/a>\u00a0near local communities.<\/p>\n

The main project was to collaboratively decide where a microreactor might be sited, what it might look like, and what\u00a0outcomes the community would like to see<\/a>\u00a0versus which would cause concern.<\/p>\n

Students also think about designing nuclear systems with both future generations and a shared common good in mind.<\/p>\n

The class explores engineering as a sociotechnical practice \u2013 meaning that technologies are not neutral. They shape and affect social life, for better and for worse. To us,\u00a0a sociotechnical engineer<\/a>\u00a0is someone who adheres to scientific and engineering fundamentals, communicates ethically and designs in collaboration with the people who are likely to be affected by their work.<\/p>\n

In class, we help our students reflect on these challenges and responsibilities.<\/p>\n

Why is this course relevant now?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Nuclear energy system design is advancing quickly, allowing engineers to rethink how they approach design.\u00a0Fusion energy systems<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0fission microreactors<\/a>\u00a0are two areas of rapidly evolving innovation.<\/p>\n

Microreactors\u00a0are smaller<\/a>\u00a0than traditional nuclear energy systems, so planners can place them closer to communities. These smaller reactors will likely be safer to run and operate, and may be a good fit for rural communities looking to transition to carbon-neutral energy systems.<\/p>\n

But for the needs, concerns and knowledge of local people to shape the design process, local communities need to be involved in these reactor siting and design conversations.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Students in the course explore nuclear facilities in virtual reality. Thomas Barwick\/DigitalVision via Getty Images<\/p><\/div>\n

What materials does the course feature?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

We use virtual reality models of both fission and fusion reactors, along with models of energy system facilities.\u00a0AI image generators are helpful<\/a>\u00a0for rapid prototyping \u2013 we have used these in class with students and in workshops.<\/p>\n

This year, we are also inviting students to do some hands-on prototyping with scrap materials for a project on nuclear energy systems.<\/p>\n

What will the course prepare students to do?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Students leave the course understanding that community engagement is an essential \u2013 not optional \u2013 component of good design. We equip students to\u00a0approach technology use and development<\/a>\u00a0with users\u2019 needs and concerns in mind.<\/p>\n

Specifically, they learn how to engage with and observe communities using ethical, respectful methods that align with the university\u2019s engineering research standards.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s a critical lesson from the course?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

As instructors, we have an opportunity \u2013 and probably also an obligation \u2013 to learn from students as much as we are teaching them course content. Gen Z students have grown up with environmental and social concerns as centerpieces of their media diets, and we\u2019ve noticed that they tend to be more strongly invested in these topics than previous generations of engineering students.<\/p>\n

Author Bios:<\/strong> Aditi Verma is Assistant Professor of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences and Katie Snyder is Lecturer III in Technical Communication, College of Engineering both at the University of Michigan<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Title of course: Socially Engaged Design of Nuclear Energy Technologies What prompted the idea for the course? The two of us had some experience with participatory design coming into this course, and we had a shared interest in bringing\u00a0virtual reality\u00a0into a first-year design class at the University of Michigan. It seemed like a good fit […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-76303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-higher-education"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEngineering students explore how to ethically design and locate nuclear facilities in this college course - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/engineering-students-explore-how-to-ethically-design-and-locate-nuclear-facilities-in-this-college-course\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Engineering students explore how to ethically design and locate nuclear facilities in this college course - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Title of course: Socially Engaged Design of Nuclear Energy Technologies What prompted the idea for the course? The two of us had some experience with participatory design coming into this course, and we had a shared interest in bringing\u00a0virtual reality\u00a0into a first-year design class at the University of Michigan. It seemed like a good fit […]\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/engineering-students-explore-how-to-ethically-design-and-locate-nuclear-facilities-in-this-college-course\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-26T06:39:01+00:00\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/nuclear-facilities.png\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"680\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"357\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kevin\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kevin\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/engineering-students-explore-how-to-ethically-design-and-locate-nuclear-facilities-in-this-college-course\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/engineering-students-explore-how-to-ethically-design-and-locate-nuclear-facilities-in-this-college-course\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kevin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\"},\"headline\":\"Engineering students explore how to ethically design and locate nuclear facilities in this college course\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-26T06:39:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/engineering-students-explore-how-to-ethically-design-and-locate-nuclear-facilities-in-this-college-course\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":702,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/engineering-students-explore-how-to-ethically-design-and-locate-nuclear-facilities-in-this-college-course\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/nuclear-facilities.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Higher Education\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/engineering-students-explore-how-to-ethically-design-and-locate-nuclear-facilities-in-this-college-course\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/engineering-students-explore-how-to-ethically-design-and-locate-nuclear-facilities-in-this-college-course\\\/\",\"name\":\"Engineering students explore how to ethically design and locate nuclear facilities in this college course - World leading higher education information and services\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/engineering-students-explore-how-to-ethically-design-and-locate-nuclear-facilities-in-this-college-course\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/engineering-students-explore-how-to-ethically-design-and-locate-nuclear-facilities-in-this-college-course\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/nuclear-facilities.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-26T06:39:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/engineering-students-explore-how-to-ethically-design-and-locate-nuclear-facilities-in-this-college-course\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/engineering-students-explore-how-to-ethically-design-and-locate-nuclear-facilities-in-this-college-course\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/engineering-students-explore-how-to-ethically-design-and-locate-nuclear-facilities-in-this-college-course\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/nuclear-facilities.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/nuclear-facilities.png\",\"width\":680,\"height\":357},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/engineering-students-explore-how-to-ethically-design-and-locate-nuclear-facilities-in-this-college-course\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Engineering students explore how to ethically design and locate nuclear facilities in this college course\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/\",\"name\":\"World leading higher education information and services\",\"description\":\"Global Higher Education Jobs, University jobs, Lecturer & tenure jobs.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\",\"name\":\"Kevin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g8ba4c352a279c450aa9435d770c1ebf4\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kevin\"},\"description\":\"Kevin is founder of the world.edu project. The past 28 years have been involved in publishing to the education sector in print and the internet. Kevin has a degree in Education and has a many years experience in developing companies and projects.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/author\\\/kevin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Engineering students explore how to ethically design and locate nuclear facilities in this college course - World leading higher education information and services","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/world.edu\/engineering-students-explore-how-to-ethically-design-and-locate-nuclear-facilities-in-this-college-course\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Engineering students explore how to ethically design and locate nuclear facilities in this college course - World leading higher education information and services","og_description":"Title of course: Socially Engaged Design of Nuclear Energy Technologies What prompted the idea for the course? The two of us had some experience with participatory design coming into this course, and we had a shared interest in bringing\u00a0virtual reality\u00a0into a first-year design class at the University of Michigan. It seemed like a good fit […]","og_url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/engineering-students-explore-how-to-ethically-design-and-locate-nuclear-facilities-in-this-college-course\/","og_site_name":"World leading higher education information and services","article_published_time":"2025-03-26T06:39:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":680,"height":357,"url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/nuclear-facilities.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Kevin","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kevin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/engineering-students-explore-how-to-ethically-design-and-locate-nuclear-facilities-in-this-college-course\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/engineering-students-explore-how-to-ethically-design-and-locate-nuclear-facilities-in-this-college-course\/"},"author":{"name":"Kevin","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee"},"headline":"Engineering students explore how to ethically design and locate nuclear facilities in this college course","datePublished":"2025-03-26T06:39:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/engineering-students-explore-how-to-ethically-design-and-locate-nuclear-facilities-in-this-college-course\/"},"wordCount":702,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/engineering-students-explore-how-to-ethically-design-and-locate-nuclear-facilities-in-this-college-course\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/nuclear-facilities.png","articleSection":["Higher Education"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/engineering-students-explore-how-to-ethically-design-and-locate-nuclear-facilities-in-this-college-course\/","url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/engineering-students-explore-how-to-ethically-design-and-locate-nuclear-facilities-in-this-college-course\/","name":"Engineering students explore how to ethically design and locate nuclear facilities in this college course - World leading higher education information and services","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/engineering-students-explore-how-to-ethically-design-and-locate-nuclear-facilities-in-this-college-course\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/engineering-students-explore-how-to-ethically-design-and-locate-nuclear-facilities-in-this-college-course\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/nuclear-facilities.png","datePublished":"2025-03-26T06:39:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/engineering-students-explore-how-to-ethically-design-and-locate-nuclear-facilities-in-this-college-course\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/world.edu\/engineering-students-explore-how-to-ethically-design-and-locate-nuclear-facilities-in-this-college-course\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/engineering-students-explore-how-to-ethically-design-and-locate-nuclear-facilities-in-this-college-course\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/nuclear-facilities.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/nuclear-facilities.png","width":680,"height":357},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/engineering-students-explore-how-to-ethically-design-and-locate-nuclear-facilities-in-this-college-course\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/world.edu\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Engineering students explore how to ethically design and locate nuclear facilities in this college course"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#website","url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/","name":"World leading higher education information and services","description":"Global Higher Education Jobs, University jobs, Lecturer & tenure jobs.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee","name":"Kevin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g8ba4c352a279c450aa9435d770c1ebf4","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kevin"},"description":"Kevin is founder of the world.edu project. The past 28 years have been involved in publishing to the education sector in print and the internet. Kevin has a degree in Education and has a many years experience in developing companies and projects.","sameAs":["https:\/\/world.edu"],"url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/author\/kevin\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76303"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76303\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76317,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76303\/revisions\/76317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76303"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=76303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}