As global demand for electricity keeps rising, Purdue University is placing itself at the heart of the nation’s nuclear energy revival. With practical facilities, collaborative research, and strong connections with industry and government, Purdue’s School of Nuclear Engineering trains students to help address future energy needs. Two of those students are already making an impact.
Receiving a master’s in nuclear engineering in 2025, Ryan Hogg is now a U.S. Navy pilot. He traced his interest in energy reliability back to high school, when blackouts disrupted everyday life during a family visit to Johannesburg, South Africa. Limited access to power changed how his family cooked, showered, and even opened the refrigerator.
“You noticed things that you had never noticed before,” Hogg said in an article on the Purdue Stories website.
That experience and similar situations he’s seen while traveling motivated Hogg to focus on nuclear power as a reliable energy source. After earning his undergraduate degree from the U.S. Naval Academy, he came to Purdue through a Navy–Purdue partnership and completed his master’s degree just 18 months before returning to full-time military service, according to the Purdue Stories website.
Hogg credited Purdue’s PUR-1 reactor, the only all-digital, university-owned nuclear reactor in the nation, with turning classroom theory into real-world understanding.
“We’re making assumptions all the time, but it’s hard to prove those assumptions until we actually see it in person,” Hogg said on the website.
Also receiving a master’s in nuclear engineering in 2025, Hannah Pike is preparing to do the same through research and teaching.
Pike discovered nuclear engineering through the university’s SCALE research program. She studies how artificial intelligence and machine learning can improve nuclear safety and operations.
Her research focuses on using AI to map radiation levels inside nuclear facilities, measurements that are challenging or impossible for humans to collect, according to the website.
Both Hogg and Pike also contributed to a Purdue-led study exploring how small modular reactors could meet Indiana’s growing energy demands and support economic development, the website said. Their findings were discussed at the Indiana Statehouse, where lawmakers considered how nuclear energy might fit into the state’s future power mix.
With the U.S. Department of Energy projecting that the nuclear workforce will nearly quadruple by 2050, Purdue’s facilities are helping prepare engineers for that demand. For students like Hogg and Pike, the mission is about more than just technology.
