Experience Of A Collaborative Interaction In Nuclear Science And Engineering Between Florida Memorial University (Hbcu) And The Nuclear And Radiation Engineering Program At The University Of Texas.

Often internships for undergraduate students in nuclear science and engineering follow the DOE model of placing the students in a national laboratory or at one of the two Nuclear Chemistry Summer Schools (NCSS) held annually at San Jose State University in California or Brookhaven National Lab in New York. This year, through a grant from Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois to determine the uranium and plutonium underwater, Florida Memorial University was invited to participate for one month at the Nuclear Engineering Teaching Laboratory (NETL) at the University of Texas. Florida Memorial University is the only HBCU in south Florida and one of the few in the country with an undergraduate Radiochemistry program. During July, 2008, a professor and two undergraduate students participated in research involving the use of prompt gamma activation analysis (PGAA) with a thermal neutron beam from the TRIGA reactor. It was envisaged that the accompaniment of a professor would greatly enhance the learning experience of the students and give a daily oversight to the progress of the research. This proved to be a very effective strategy.