Paul Hurley

NRC Fellowship
B.Sc., Physics, Boston University
M.Sc., Nuclear Egineering, Virginia Tech

Paul graduated from Boston University in 2018 with a bachelor's degree in physics. While attending, he worked as an undergraduate research assistant for CERN's Neutrino Platform, helping construct and test high voltage components for the ProtoDUNE single-phase LAr-TPC neutrino detector.

After graduating from BU, Paul came to Virginia Tech and joined the HEATS Lab in August 2018. His master's work was primarily focused on the building and testing of a quenching experiment using optical fiber temperature sensors in order to better understand the minimum film boiling temperature. This allowed him the opportunity to study both transient heat transfer phenomena as well as the inverse heat transfer method. While working on this research, he also attended the CASL training program, where he learned how to use the VERA reactor analysis framework. After completing his master's, he stayed with the HEATS Lab to pursue his Ph.D. He is currently working on the design of the test section of a high-pressure loop to study post-CHF heat transfer phenomena.

Outside of the lab, Paul enjoys building computers, hiking, and drawing.