ORGANIZER BIOGRAPHIES

CO-CHAIR

Emma Houston

Emma is a first-year graduate student in nuclear engineering studying under Dr. Sandra Bogetic. She graduate from Tennessee with a B.S. in nuclear engineering in 2022. Her undergraduate research consisted of both nuclear forensics and safeguard applications of neutrino detectors. She co-oped at Southern Nuclear Company at Vogtle 3 and 4 and interned at Lawrence Livermore National Lab. She is an active member of the American Nuclear Society and women in nuclear.

CO-CHAIR

Katy Worrell

Katy is a senior majoring in nuclear engineering and minoring in mathematics. She currently performs undergraduate research in criticality safety topics under Dr. Vladimir Sobes. Since December 2020 she has worked as a Nuclear Criticality Safety Intern at BWXT Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc. in Erwin, TN, during breaks from school. She served as secretary of the UTK ANS Student Chapter from 2020-2022, and is the president of the Chapter for the 2022-2023 academic year. She is also a member of the ANS NCSD Communications Committee. For general conference questions, you can reach her at kworrell@vols.utk.edu.

TECHNICAL PROGRAM CHAIR

Lance Drouet

Lance Drouet is a first-year graduate student in nuclear engineering working under Dr. Sandra Bogetic. He received his B.S. in Nuclear Engineering from UTK in 2022, during which he conducted undergraduate research under Dr. Eric Lukosi in semiconducting detectors.

He served as the 2021-2022 UTK ANS chapter president and co-led the creation of a successful ANS student conference bid. He continues this effort as the Programming Committee Director on the conference planning committee. Lance has interests in computer science, electronics, and machine learning.

COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE DIRECTOR

Sydney Copp

Sydney graduated from the University of Tennessee Knoxville in May 2021 with a major in Nuclear Engineering and a minor in Materials Science & Engineering. Now, she is entering her second year of graduate school in UTK's NE Department as a Ph.D. candidate working under Dr. Steven Zinkle. Sydney is also involved in the department through serving as the Graduate Representative for our ANS Chapter, as well as a member of WIN.

DE&I COMMITTEE DIRECTOR

Anthony Tom

Anthony graduated with a B.S. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Tennessee in 2022. This fall, he will be continuing his studies into computational material science with Dr. Wirth. His activities on campus include UT's chapters of the American Nuclear Society and National Society of Black Engineers. He can be contacted for DEI questions at atom1@vols.utk.edu.

FINANCE COMMITTEE DIRECTOR

Sophie Hitson

Sophie is a senior in Nuclear Engineering at UTK and has interests in nuclear nonproliferation, safeguards, and security. She has completed internships with LANL and NRC. At UTK, she works as a Tickle College of Engineering Ambassador and as an undergraduate research assistant. For finance questions, please contact sophie@vols.utk.edu.

LOGISTICS COMMITTEE DIRECTOR

Alyssa Hayes

Alyssa is a Ph.D. candidate working for Professor Brian Wirth in the NE Department here at UT, working on impurity transport simulations for magnetically confined fusion applications. She earned her B.S. in the same field from the University of Illinois in 2019. Alyssa continues to be an active member of ANS and WIN, and she aspires to become an ANS Congressional Fellow in the future.

Committees

David Anderson, Lance Drouet, Sydney Copp, Dan Racz, Landry Wells

Communication

The Communication Committee oversees organizing outreach efforts to obtain partnerships and sponsorships, as well as promoting the conference through social media; and organizing merchandise, student awards, and speaker gifts. This committee will design the website and social media for the conference. They will ensure all the information about the conference is organized and accessible. The committee is also responsible for working with potential sponsors to gain funding for the conference.

Cade Abbott, Sophie Hitson, Thomas Ensley

Finance

The Finance Committee is in charge of overseeing the budget and keeping records of any purchases made for the proposal. They oversee tracking registration income and discussing registration estimates with other committees to determine the projected cost and budget. They will work closely with other committees to ensure that we are keeping track of all expenses.

Nick Branam, Katie Butler, Alyssa Hayes, Alex Choi, Haley Davis, Michael German, Caroline Thomas, Megan Whittle

Logistics

The Logistics Committee is responsible for all logistical details of the conference, from the broad scope of selecting a venue, all the way down to constructing a minute-by-minute plan for the weekend. The logistics proposal committee worked closely with venues, transportation, and vendors to understand what each can provide. The logistics committee for conference planning will continue these connections and book all the necessary things to ensure the conference runs smoothly.

James Carnal, Daniel Hartman, Emily Hutchins, Gabe Lentchner

Programming

The Programming Committee will oversee the technical and non-technical experiences of the conference, organizing tours, technical sessions, panels, speakers, local activities, and the career fair. They will create the technical tracks and poster sessions for the conference. They will include organizing technical events by contacting potential panelists, securing speakers, and much more. They will organize tours during the conference. They will serve as the point of contact for the nuclear industry and the conference in many aspects. Additionally, they will work with UT to help organize the career fair for the conference.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

These representatives will ensure that the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion are ingrained throughout the conference. While all members of the conference committee are expected to keep these values at the forefront of their decisions, this representative would be an additional, dedicated advocate on all matters, from speaker selection, to facilities, to financial aid, and everything in-between. For example, this representative would be involved in the selection process for panelists, workshop leads, and speakers. Additionally, they have worked with the registration and selection committee to create need-based scholarships that ensure we provide equitable opportunities to attend the conference. This representative will work closely with university faculty dedicated to diversity, equity, and inclusion and their impact on student organizations.

General Conference Email

ans23stucon@gmail.com