Long Range Planning Integration – Assessed long-range planning deficiencies at a large utility. This was followed by the implementation of an enhanced long-range planning approach integrating long term asset management, plant health, and project management procedures while ensuring budget alignment and process control.

Zero Base Budgeting – Designed and implemented MCR’s proprietary risk-informed approach to Zero Base Budgeting; risk-ranked all routine budget line items, creating substantial savings for multiple municipal utilities.Capital Portfolio Optimization – Optimized the long-range capital portfolio for utilities through in-depth review of each project evaluating business case fundamentals, engineering/financial justification, and strategic alignment. Life Cycle Management Plans – Facilitated the development of Life Cycle Management Plans (LCMPs) for a nuclear plant representing more than $200 million in major capital and O&M spending over a variety of critical plant systems.

The Power Optimization Center is a state of the art performance monitoring and diagnostic facility operating in the electric utility sector. Delivering services to nuclear, coal and natural gas-fired generating stations for over a decade, the Center has become internationally recognized as the Gold Standard for the industry. Located in Dallas, Texas, the POC presently serves power plants across Texas and Wisconsin.Responsibilities included:Responsible for remote monitoring, modeling, and diagnostics of power generation facilities to increase thermal efficiency, improve overall reliability, and reduce maintenance costs. Reviewed plant systems, subsystems and components to determine efficiency, performance and provided recommendations to improve overall reliability and performance of monitored fleets. Predictive models (SmartSignal, PRiSM, Predict-It) were leveraged to provide early warning of degraded mechanical or performance conditions. Thus, providing the client with the appropriate information to allow for corrective action to be taken before an issue becomes critical to generation. Real-time equipment reliability analyses were performed to catch transient or quick-to-fail conditions. This position required expertise with coal, natural gas, combustion turbine, combined-cycle, and nuclear power generation stations to provide support for all client facilities.

Bechtel Marine Propulsion Corporation (BMPC) is responsible for developing advanced naval nuclear propulsion technology, providing technical support to ensure the safety and reliability of our nation's naval nuclear reactors and training the sailors who operate those reactors in the Navy’s submarine and aircraft carrier fleets. BMPC includes both the Bettis and Knolls Atomic Power Laboratories. BMPC has 6900 employees at main locations that include Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Schenectady, New York, West Milton, New York, Charleston, South Carolina, Idaho Falls, Idaho and more and numerous shipyard and vendor sites around the globe. BMPC operates the Bettis and Knolls Atomic Power Laboratories for the Department of Energy. BMPC is dedicated solely to the support of the United States Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program. My roles included:* Advanced nuclear core design for newest U.S. Navy submarine platform: the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine program* Independent validation of nuclear design models using state-of-the-art Monte Carlo methods and high-performance computing* Testing and verification of new integrated features to nuclear engineering codes * Development of nuclear design bases * Sensitivity evaluations using discrete ordinates * Manufacturing impacts on nuclear performance * Neutron and gamma heating analyses * Physics testing of naval reactors

The National Ignition Facility (NIF), the world's largest and highest-energy laser, was dedicated on May 29, 2009. In 2010, NIF began experiments that focus the energy of 192 giant laser beams on a BB-sized target filled with hydrogen fuel. NIF is capable of creating temperatures and pressures similar to those that exist only in the cores of stars and giant planets and inside nuclear weapons.LLNL's Weapons and Complex Integration (WCI) Directorate is using NIF to advance an understanding of fundamental nuclear processes and nuclear weapon performance. NIF is the only facility that can perform controlled, experimental studies of thermonuclear burn, the phenomenon that gives rise to the immense energy of modern nuclear weapons. It provides unprecedented experimental access to the physics of nuclear weapons. Data from NIF experiments complement testing at other experimental facilities at Livermore and elsewhere. This experimental data helps to inform and validate sophisticated, three-dimensional weapons-simulation computer codes and bring about a more complete understanding of important weapon physics.My roles included:* Fusion energy research within LLNL's Weapons and Complex Integration (WCI) Directorate* Developed Monte Carlo simulations and utilized high-performance computing to predict National Ignition Campaign shot performance. Simulations were analyzed and compared to experimental results to determine adequacy of installed instrumentation. Recommendations for enhanced diagnostic capabilities were provided to researchers and implemented.

For 100 years, the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) has served the citizens of Texas through engineering and technology-oriented research and educational collaborations. Our research has made significant impact on the health, safety and quality of life of Texas citizens and has contributed to the state's economic growth and development. TEES researchers conduct relevant research and provide practical answers to critical state and national needs. We partner with industry, communities and academic institutions to solve problems to help improve the quality of life, promote economic development and enhance the educational systems of Texas. We also promote new technology education and investigate problems in health and the environment. We serve as a catalyst for collaborations that position Texas to be especially competitive for federal dollars and play a major role in strengthening research leadership across the state.My roles included:* Thermal-Hydraulic evaluation of new and innovative fuel assemblies using the VIPRE-01 subchannel analysis code* Developed thermophysical models and approximations for ceramic-ceramic composite fuel type under investigation.* Neutronics/Thermal-Hydraulics coupling – Inert Matrix Fuel* Small and Medium Reactors research - Low-Capacity Fission Power Systems: Rapid Development Using a Nonnuclear Test Approach

* Oversaw probabilistic risk assessment model update scoping study at Comanche Peak nuclear power plant. * Reviewed latest industry data (NUREG-CR/6928) for failure probabilities of plant components, screened data for applicability and quality, and implemented screened data into fault tree analysis models (CAFTA) for updated core damage frequency calculations.