Overview
Boise State University, Idaho State University and University of Idaho are hosting an in-person student symposium for undergraduate and graduate students from across the Mountain West who have an interest in carbon neutrality. The student symposium will take place March 29-31 in Idaho Falls, Idaho at the Center for Advanced Energy Studies.
Sessions include:
- Additive Manufacturing
- Advanced Materials
- Computational Modeling
- Energy Storage
- Environmental Energy Engagement
- Fusion Energy
- Nuclear Energy
- Renewable sources
- Sustainability
- Waste Management
Undergraduate and graduate students are invited to prepare a poster and/or presentation. Prizes will be awarded for Best Poster, Best Presentation, Best Speaker and other categories!
Abstracts
- Fracture Behavior of Traditional UO2 Fuel Pellets for Light Water Reactors
- Development of Additively Manufactured Strain Guages
- Simplifying MSR Start-up Controller with Burnable Poison Salts
- Microstructure, Residual Stress, and Mechanical Behavior of SS-316L Manufactured via Laser-wire Direct Energy Deposition
- Finite Element Analysis of High-Pressure Compressed Air Energy Storage Tank
- Amorphous sugar materials as sustainable and scalable alternatives for short-term-use, rigid products
- Investigative Research on Design Parameters and Criticality Models for Microreactors
- Advanced Test Reactor Capabilities
- High Strength Pervious Concrete
- Nanosynthesis of Terfenol-D Enabled by High-Energy Ball Milling
- Carbon Capture: theoretical guidelines of screening graphene-derived materials
- The Green Side to the Oil and Gas Industry
- Additive Manufacturing of Zirconium Carbide for Space Nuclear Propulsion
- Sustainable Concrete Mixes Incorporating Precipitated Calcium Carbonate (PCC) and Upcycled Aggregate (UA)
Registration
Go here to register


Symposium Agenda
Wednesday, March 29
A tour of INL and CAES facilities will be offered to the first 60 students who opt in during registration. The various tours will be an all-day event (8:00am – 5:00pm MT). It is important to note that some facilities will be restricted to U.S. citizens only, such as the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) and Materials Fuel Complex (MFC). Students will be broken up into two tour group. Below is a sample itinerary of the tour:
TIMEÂ | ACTIVITYÂ | PRESENTERÂ |
8:00-8:15 | Badge & load bus at CAES | Shelly Norman, Liza Raley, Taylor Wilhelm |
8:15-9:15 | Travel to EBR-I | INL Transportation |
9:15-10:15 | Tour EBR-I | Taylor Wilhelm |
10:15-10:30 | Travel to ATR | INL Transportation |
10:30-10:45Â | Ingress ATRÂ | Â |
10:45-11:45 | Tour ATR (2 groups) | Shelly Norman, Liza Raley |
11:45-12:00Â | Egress ATRÂ | Â |
12:00-12:30 | Travel to MFC (boxed lunches on bus) | INL Transportation |
12:30-12:45Â | Ingress MFC Â | Â |
12:45-1:30 | Tour HFEF (2 groups) | Shelly Norman, Liza Raley |
1:30-1:45Â | Egress MFCÂ | Â |
1:45-2:30 | Travel to EIL | INL Transportation |
2:30-3:00 | Walk-by tour EIL | Liza Raley |
3:00-4:00 | Tour ESL (2 groups) | Liza Raley, Taylor Wilhelm |
4:00 | Conclude |  |
Thursday, March 30
8:00 AM: Registration and Check-In
8:30 AM: CAES Welcome
9:00 AM: Keynote Speaker Panel
Moderator:
Panelist:
10:00 AM: Refreshment Break
10:15 AM: Plenary Session 1
Speaker:Â
11:30 AM: Lunch Break
12:50 PM: Technical Session 2
2:45 PM: Refreshment Break
3:00 PM: Career Panel 1
Panelist:
5:00 PM: Networking Session + Graduate Posters
7:00 PM: Adjourn
Friday, March 31
8:00 AM: Student Coffee
8:30 AM: Keynote Speaker
Speaker:
9:30 AM: Technical Session 2
11:30 AM: Refreshment Break
11:45 AM: Plenary Session 2
Speaker:
12:30 PM: Lunch Break
1:45 PM: Technical Session 3
3:15 PM: Refreshment Break
3:30 PM: Technical Session 4
5:00 PM: Student Networking + Undergraduate Posters
6:30 PM: Prizes Announced + Closing Remarks
7:00 PM: Adjourn
FuNZI Goals and Mission
Our mission is to provide an opportunity for students interested in carbon neutrality to present their research and to be educated on the multifaceted approach of local industry in increasing sustainability and reducing carbon emissions. The FuNZI committee is led by the American Nuclear Society Student Chapters at Boise State University (BSU), Idaho State University (ISU), and University of Idaho (UoI). We are dedicated to forging a future of net-zero emissions as well as contributing to the environmental targets set by our country’s current administration. We hope to create an environment that allows students to network and learn about future careers as well as internship opportunities.
Student Organization Committee

Kaelee Novich
Chair, 3rd year PhD student, Materials Science and Engineering, Boise State University

Drew Glenna
Vice-Chair, 3rd year Ph.D. student, Nuclear Engineering, University of Idaho

Cadré Francis
Sponsorship Lead, 4th year Ph.D. student, Materials Science and Engineering, Boise State University

Lydia Rice
Marketing Lead, Junior level undergraduate student, Mechanical Engineering, Boise State University

Will Johanson
Travel & Logistics Lead, Senior level undergraduate student, Materials Science and Engineering, Boise State University

Jackie Stone
Member, Junior level undergraduate student, Mechanical Engineering, Boise State University

Sarah Cole
Member, Sophomore level undergraduate student, Materials Science and Engineering, Boise State University

Tim Phero
Webpage Designer, 5th year Ph.D. student, Materials Science and Engineering, Boise State University

Scott Riley
Selection Lead, 5th year Ph.D. student, Materials Science and Engineering, Boise State University

Sesily Stewart
Member, 2nd year PhD student, Nuclear Engineering, University of Idaho

Allen Geringer
Keynote Speaker Lead, Junior level undergraduate student, Mechanical Engineering, Boise State University

Tejaswini Vaidya
Member, 3rd year Ph.D. student, Chemical Engineering, University of Idaho
Lodging
There are many options for lodging close to the Idaho National Lab, Idaho Falls campus and the Center for Advanced Energy Studies. Please reach out if you need help finding lodging.

Sponsors
More Information
For more information, email kaeleenovich@u.boisestate.edu