Nathaniel Randolph
Tennessee Tech University junior Nathaniel Randolph of Sparta, Tennessee, is helping
build the future of nuclear engineering from the ground up as part of the university’s
new program.
“I’ve been interested in nuclear energy for a long time,” he said. “Tennessee’s very
big for its nuclear history with Oak Ridge, and so that was the seed that started.
And when I heard that Tech was starting its nuclear program, I wanted to be a part
of it and I wanted to be one of the first.”
Randolph said the opportunity to join a brand-new program, combined with Tech’s location
close to home, made his decision clear.
“The primary thing is we’re brand new, and there’s a lot of opportunities that come
with that,” he said. “There’s smaller class sizes, you get to know your professors,
and you get to see everything from the ground floor.”
During his time he has embraced the program’s emphasis on hands-on learning, from
working in the machine shop to assisting in the nuclear engineering lab.
“If you’re seeing diagrams and charts but not actively doing the hands-on part to
those, then you’re missing an aspect,” Randolph said. “If you’re able to play around
with it, mess some things up, you learn far more than you do from just your studies.”
Through the university’s nuclear simulator lab and radiation detection equipment,
Randolph said he has gained practical experience that prepares him for the field.
“We get to simulate how a power plant works,” he said. “We’re able to have all the
buttons, the configurations, the overlays, so that we can keep pressing everything
seeing what they do, but then learning why it does that.”
He said Tech’s strong connections with industry partners have also shaped his confidence
in his career path.
“They let you in front of those employers and allow you to have the face-to-face conversation
that you might not have at other colleges,” Randolph said.
Outside the classroom, Randolph is helping launch the university’s chapter of the
American Nuclear Society while also serving in Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor
society.
“Joining clubs has really helped me because I get to talk with other people who are
interested in what I’m interested in,” he said. “When we go to different conferences
and are able to meet up physically with other students, we can share our knowledge
of the industry and just nerd out together.”
Randolph said his long-term goal is to contribute to Tennessee’s energy future, potentially
at Oak Ridge National Laboratory or with the Tennessee Valley Authority.
“I’d really like to work at TVA specifically, working at one of the plants,” he said.
“It’s more important for what TVA has done in Tennessee, and I want to further that
by going more into nuclear.”
For students considering nuclear engineering, Randolph encourages them to think broadly
about the field’s possibilities.
“Don’t limit your potential, don’t limit your opportunities,” he said. “There are
so many things in nuclear engineering that you can do, and the more you learn about
it, the more you’re going to realize how big it is.”