Collage of University of Michigan students holding certificates at the 2025 ANS Student Conference. Top right: two students smile and hold "Best Presentation Overall Graduate" awards. Top left: a woman and a man display a "Best Poster" certificate. Bottom left: three students pose, with one holding a "Best Presentation" certificate. Bottom right: two men smile as one presents the other with a certificate labeled "Community Trailblazer." The background features geometric blue and gold design elements.

U-M students win top honors at 2025 ANS Student Conference

The students were recognized for excellence in computational methods, radiation detection, and nuclear advocacy at national conference in New Mexico.

By:

Sara Norman

Students from the University of Michigan brought home several major awards from the 2025 American Nuclear Society (ANS) Student Conference, held April 3–5 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Hosted by the University of New Mexico under the theme Old and Nu, the conference highlighted innovations in nuclear science and engineering while celebrating the field’s legacy.

Alexander Birmingham and Justin Hamil proudly hold two Best Presentation certificates—one for the Computational Methods track and one for Overall Best Graduate Presentation—at the 2025 ANS Student Conference. They are seated under a large white event tent with string lights above.
Justin Hamil (left) and Alexander Birmingham with their Overall Best Graduate Presentation awards.

Overall Best Graduate Presentation: Helium transmutation calculations

NERS graduate student Justin Hamil and LSA physics undergraduate Alexander Birmingham, along with NERS professor Kevin G. Field, earned Best Presentation in the Computational Methods, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning track for their work, Improving Confidence in Computational Methods for Helium Transmutation Calculations. The same project also received the prestigious Overall Best Graduate Presentation award, marking it as one of the most impactful contributions of the conference.

NERS undergraduates Carly Ellen Evans and Ethan Zagotta smile while holding their Overall Best Poster award certificate at the 2025 ANS Student Conference. Both wear conference lanyards and winter jackets.
Carly Ellen Evans (left) and Ethan Zagotta pose with their award.

Overall Best Poster: Molten salt reactor design

NERS undergraduates Carly Ellen Evans, Ethan Zagotta, and Joaquin Quezada were awarded the Overall Best Poster for their research, Innovative Moderator Concepts for Thermal-Spectrum Molten Salt Reactors. Their work explored creative approaches to moderator design that could enhance the performance and versatility of next-generation reactor systems.

NERS undergraduates Jacob Cooper, Bella Greenman, and Joseph Brown smile for a photo indoors while holding their Best Presentation certificate in the Radiation Detection and Imaging track at the 2025 ANS Student Conference.
Bella Greenman, Jacob T. Cooper and Joseph Brown pose with their award.

Best Presentation: Robotic radiation detection

In the Radiation Detection and Imaging track, NERS undergraduates Jacob T. Cooper, Bella Greenman, Joseph Brown, and Kaixin Xue won Best Presentation for their collaborative project, 3D Compton Imaging and Multisource Identification of Radioisotopes for an Integrated CZT Detector and Robot. The work combined innovative detection technologies with robotics to improve isotope identification in complex environments.

John Mobley IV receives two awards at the 2025 ANS Student Conference. In the left panel, he poses with Ashley Machado while holding his Best Paper certificate for Nuclear Education and Advocacy. In the right panel, he shakes hands with Peter Hotvedt while holding his Community Trailblazer Award certificate.
John Mobley IV receives the Best Paper for Nuclear Education and Advocacy from Ashley Machado (left) and the Community Trailblazer Award from Peter Hotvedt (right) (photos by Nicholas Borrego).

Best Paper: ANS Student Sections growth

John Mobley IV, a graduate student with a nuclear concentration in both the Engineering Education Research program in the College of Engineering and the Science, Technology, and Public Policy program in the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, received the Best Paper award in the Nuclear Education and Advocacy track. His paper, Recent Growth in the Establishment of ANS Student Sections, provided an analysis of student engagement in nuclear policy and advocacy through the lens of ANS chapter expansion. John also received the Inaugural ANS Student Sections Committee Community Trailblazer Award.

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