Annalisa Manera named ANS Fellow
Manera was recognized for her research demonstrating exceptional and sustained contributions to the thermal hydraulics field.
Prof. Annalisa Manera has been named a Fellow of the American Nuclear Society for “her research demonstrating exceptional and sustained contributions to the thermal hydraulics field with a particular focus on the application of thermal hydraulics to nuclear reactor safety.”
“Her significant and original contributions to the field include novel contributions to high-resolution thermal hydraulics experiments and the development of innovative multiphysics and multiscale computational fluid dynamics–based tools for nuclear applications,” ANS noted.
“Professor Manera has significantly improved the sophistication of our approaches to heat transfer and reactor safety while also being an excellent educator and colleague,” said NERS chair Todd Allen.
Manera joined the NERS faculty in 2011 as an Associate Professor and became a full professor
in 2017. She is the co-director of the Experimental and Computational Multiphase Flow Laboratory (ECMF) and of the High-Resolution TH Imaging Laboratory. In the two laboratories, fluid-dynamic experiments are performed using in-house advanced state-of-the-art high-resolution experimental techniques such as wire-mesh sensors, gamma-tomography, and Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) combined with novel refractive-index matching techniques. The advanced instrumentation allows quantitative imaging of single-phase and multiphase flows in complex geometries and high-pressure systems.
Manera is the principal investigator of the ARPA-E-funded Project SAFARI (Secure Automation for Advanced Reactor Innovation), which is developing AI-enhanced “digital twins” of nuclear reactors for predictive maintenance and autonomous control.
Manera holds an M.Sc. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Pisa in Italy and a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands.
The rank of Fellow is the American Nuclear Society’s highest membership grade to which only a small group of nuclear science and engineering professionals are elected. Selection comes as a result of nomination by your peers, careful review by the Honors and Awards Committee, and approval by the ANS Board of Directors.
Manera was recognized during the Opening Plenary of the 2023 ANS Annual Meeting on Monday, June 12, 2023.