Matthew Durbin

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PhD Candidate of Nuclear Engineering

About Me Research Projects Involvement CV

Involvement

Institute of Nuclear Materials Management

Over the past few years, I’ve gotten the chance to be really involved with INMM. From 2018-2019 I served as the treasurer of the PSU chapter, and am currently the PSU chapter president. As treasurer, I secured funding from various sources for our student members to attend 2 annual conferences, a workshop at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and a tour of the Brookhaven National Laboratory. As president, I’ve run weekly meetings revolving around student research and special topic presentations, and served as the liaison between our chapter, Penn State, and the INMM parent organization. Additionally, I organized funding for the 2020 virtual meeting to reduce the costs of attendance for our members. A big effort for 2020 was a Risk Quantification Workshop we we’re going to host at Penn State, in conjunction with the North East Chapter and Nuclear Security and Physical Protection technical division. Unfortunately due to the Coronavirus, it has been postponed. In working with other officers, I’ve also organized several out reach events including PSU’s “Haunted U”. As a student member, I’ve presented at two annual meetings and received a student paper award. Additionally, I was a member of our chapters “Student Research Initiative” in 2019, which also received a student paper award.

Nuclear Engineering Department

Through our school’s Research Reactor, I’ve gotten the chance to participate in many additional outreach events. One of the largest scale outreach events includes our open house, where members of the general public are guided through the reactor facilities and various research/educational efforts associated with the program. I’ve volunteered at similar events for high school students in the Westinghouse Honors program, and have helped guide Boy Scouts to obtain their “radiation” merit badge though simple radiation detection and measurement activities.

Over the years I’ve also attended parts of many faculty interviews for the department, including the recent search for our department head. In this capacity, I often met with the candidates and provided feedback to the hiring committee on their research and teaching seminars. In my capacity as the INMM chapter president, I have also met with our department head and alumni association to discuss various department related issues. Additionally, I’ve met with many of our colloquium speakers over lunches, dinners, and discussion sessions, and got the chance to introduce our INMM co-sponsored speaker Corey Hinderstien from NTI.

American Nuclear Society/ Alpha Nu Sigma

I first got involved with the American Nuclear Society at my undergrad, and got the chance to participate in outreach events at local high schools in which we showcased radiation demonstrations. I also participated in various open house and outreach events on campus, in which we showcased a mouse-trap-ping-pong-ball demo that illustrated the concept of fission. I can now say I’ve she blood, sweat, and tears in the name of STEM outreach! I was inducted in Alpha Nu Sigma, the Nuclear Engineering Honor Society, my first year of grad school. The following year, I served as secretary in which I helped run a T-shirt fundraiser and co-organized/hosted that years induction ceremony.

Policy Engagement

As is almost universally common among nuclear engineers, I am a supporter of Nuclear Energy. I think that climate change is one of the biggest problems facing our world today, and that nuclear energy has to play a part in our collective efforts to reduce carbon emissions. During my last year of undergrad, I participated as a delegate in the Texas Nuclear Engineering Student Delegation. Though the delegation, a group of nuclear engineering students from around Texas gathered at the State Capitol to meet with various law makers, staffers, and relevant agencies to discuss Nuclear Energy and STEM Education. I have also since met with multiple Pennsylvania Legislators around the State College area with other Penn State Nuclear Engineering Students for the same reasons.

Society of Physics Students/ Sigma Pi Sigma

In undergrad, I was heavily involved with the Society of Physics Students and served as Out Reach Coordinator my junior year. In that capacity, I engaged in various open house type opportunities on campus, promoted the club around the department, and participated in our bi-weekly fundraiser in which we sold Pizza to raise money for our Pizza Funds! I was inducted into Sigma Pi Sigma, the physics honor society, that year.

Teaching and Mentoring

Teaching

I have TA’d two radiation laboratory courses and really enjoyed both experiences. At UT, I led groups of students through a neutron measurement and shielding lab. Here, we used He-3 and B-10 based neutron detectors and took various measurements with a Cf-252 source. The most fun part of the lab was the shielding design competition in which each team was allowed a set distance and various materials to reduce the neutron count as much as possible. At PSU, I led students through various labs ranging from GM-tube measurements, to Neutron Activation Analysis, to using a fruit can and amplification chip to make a detector! In addition to leading the students through the lab, I also graded lab reports, hosted officers hours, and led a recitation session before each test.

Mentoring

My first experience with radiation detection was not though a course or textbook, but with a senior student who “showed me the ropes.” He taught me how to collect and analyze gamma ray spectroscopy and coincidence data my junior year. Armed with the skills he taught me, I collected my own data that later contributed to a paper and his thesis! From the beginning, students mentoring other students has been very important and personal to me, and it is largely the reason I’m here today! Since starting graduate school, I have gotten to mentor five undergraduate students (some of whom are now graduated, and some of whom are way smarter than me!). Three of these students have been apart of a summer internship program, in which they largely worked with me on a day-to-day basis over a summer to work towards their project goals. More longer term, I have also mentored two undergraduate research assistants to assist me with simulations, experiments, and data analysis for the various projects I’ve worked on over the years. Where possible, as was the case when I was an undergrad, I’ve encouraged the students to be involved with conference or paper submissions. While Covid-19 has put much of these efforts on hold, I hope to continuing mentoring efforts in the future.