Ian Davis
	2011
	Nuclear Engineering
	Penn State University
	Nuclear Engineering Graduate Student

What do you do in your current position? I am in the Reactor Dynamics and Fuel Management Group for the Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering Department. Our research group focuses on computational analysis of nuclear reactors and their components. For my project, we are attempting to figure out how and why nuclear fuel rods become brittle after long periods of time in a nuclear reactor.

How has your PSU engineering education/experiences helped to get you where you are today? I feel that Penn State Engineering gives you so many opportunities to help you not only succeed, but also to just help you figure out what you want to do with your career. My engineering classes and the organizations I was a part of at Penn State definitely made me realize that engineering was where I wanted to be. Furthermore, I was able to use the knowledge I learned in my classes in a practical setting through an internship and also a research fellowship. After my research fellowship, I decided to get involved in undergraduate research at Penn State. The decision to continue doing research at Penn State helped me realize that I wanted to attend graduate school and pursue another degree, which is exactly what I am doing now.

How has your experience as an EA impacted your professional life so far? Communication is very important in any job or graduate position. As a graduate student, I always find myself in situations that require discussion of some abstract concept or complex issue with my research project. In my meetings with advisers and workshops I have attended, if I am not able to effective communicate my ideas or problems, then confusion takes over and we won't get anywhere. Through the Engineering Ambassadors, I was able to cultivate my communications skills, so that I can get my point across effectively in a way that my peers would understand. I have found that meetings with my advisers go rather smoothly, and that I often leave with satisfied ready to tackle the next part of my project (most of the time).