{"id":54949,"date":"2025-05-23T13:31:30","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T17:31:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eicdev.fiu.edu\/phparc\/?p=54949"},"modified":"2025-05-23T13:33:13","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T17:33:13","slug":"srs-and-fiu-strengthen-partnership-to-advance-doe-missions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eicdev.fiu.edu\/phparc\/news\/srs-and-fiu-strengthen-partnership-to-advance-doe-missions\/","title":{"rendered":"SRS and FIU Strengthen Partnership to Advance DOE Missions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DOE<\/a> DOE Fellows Program Mechanical Engineer Brendon Cintas, left, and Savannah River Nuclear Solutions Director of Engineering Technical Services Ken Burrows, right, test out the Boston Dynamics robot nicknamed Spot, showcasing cutting-edge technology being integrated into DOE projects.<\/p>\n

AIKEN, S.C.<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 In an effort to strengthen academic and industry partnerships, representatives from the Savannah River Site (SRS) recently visited Florida International University (FIU), a leading public research university in Miami, Florida. The visit aimed to bolster the growing collaboration between FIU\u2019s\u00a0Applied Research Center<\/a>\u00a0(ARC) and the\u00a0U.S. Department of Energy<\/a>\u00a0(DOE).<\/p>\n

Since 2007, the\u00a0DOE-FIU Science & Technology Workforce Development Initiative<\/a>, also known as the\u00a0DOE Fellows Program<\/a>, has played a pivotal role in advancing the missions of DOE\u2019s\u00a0Office of Environmental Management<\/a>\u00a0(EM) and\u00a0Office of Legacy Management<\/a>\u00a0(LM).<\/p>\n

In fiscal year 2024, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS), the site\u2019s management and operations contractor, began establishing a partnership with FIU to increase the number of interns transitioning into full-service roles, strengthen technical capabilities and elevate industry reputation and visibility with academic institutions.<\/p>\n

“This partnership brings fresh perspectives and innovative solutions to the complex challenges we face at DOE facilities,” said Bryan Ortner, SRNS Workforce Services and Talent Management acting senior vice president. “By collaborating with FIU, we hope to harness the capabilities of their students and faculty, yielding valuable research outcomes and providing students with hands-on experience in addressing real-world problems.”<\/p>\n

\"From<\/a>


From left: Leonel \u201cLeo\u201d Lagos, DOE Fellows Program director; Bryan Ortner, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) acting senior vice president of Workforce Services and Talent Management; Anthony Abrahao, Florida International University (FIU) research scientist; Angela Martin, SRNS talent acquisition manager; Ken Burrows, SRNS director of engineering technical services; Carla Wheeler, SRNS engineering staffing and development manager; and FIU senior research scientists Yelena Katsenovich and Ravi Gudavalli.<\/p><\/div>\n

The program includes a two- to four-year mentoring component, offering paid research experiences to address technical problems that benefit DOE missions. Research areas include deactivation and decommissioning of contaminated facilities, soil and groundwater remediation, workforce development, robotics, intelligence applications, radioactive waste management, information technology, and environmental protection.<\/p>\n

\u201cSRS plans to hire 9,000 full-time employees over the next five years, so it is imperative to leverage this agreement to build a robust talent pipeline,\u201d said Leonel \u201cLeo\u201d Lagos, DOE Fellows Program director. \u201cBy integrating coursework, DOE fieldwork, and applied research at FIU, we create a well-structured program that brings highly skilled individuals into the workforce to fill those critical gaps.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the visit, representatives from SRNS Workforce Services, Talent Management, and Engineering departments toured FIU\u2019s research facilities, reviewed student projects and revisited past research findings.<\/p>\n

\"Savannah<\/a>

Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) established a partnership with Florida International University in 2024 to increase the number of interns transitioning into full-service roles at the Savannah River Site. From left: SRNS Senior Vice President of Plutonium Disposition Operations and Programs Jeff Griffin, DOE Fellows Program Director Leonel “Leo” Lagos, and SRNS Talent Acquisition Manager Angela Martin.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe initiative marked a significant step towards rekindling and strengthening our ties with FIU,\u201d said Ken Burrows, SRNS director of engineering technical services. \u201cThe innovative work being conducted is directly applicable to solving the challenges we face in our aging nuclear facilities and supporting new projects for DOE-EM and NNSA missions. Interacting with the faculty and students has given me confidence that there is a bright, capable group ready to tackle our challenges at SRNS.\u201d<\/p>\n

SRS plans to implement a high-level memorandum of understanding with FIU to ensure a steady stream of skilled specialists are available to tackle technical challenges through grant-funded research or the\u00a0SRNS Internship Program<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This summer, DOE Fellows Program intern Kevin Yulkowsky will join SRS to gain hands-on experience in\u00a0H Canyon<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 the only operating, production-scale, radiologically shielded chemical separations facility in the United States. Additionally, FIU students and faculty are scheduled to visit the site in May for a comprehensive tour.<\/p>\n

-Contributor: Mackenzie McNabb
\n-Source: EM Update Newsletter<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DOE Fellows Program Mechanical Engineer Brendon Cintas, left, and Savannah River Nuclear Solutions Director of Engineering Technical Services Ken Burrows, right, test out the Boston Dynamics robot nicknamed Spot, showcasing cutting-edge technology being integrated into DOE projects. AIKEN, S.C.\u00a0\u2014 In an effort to strengthen academic and industry partnerships, representatives from the Savannah River Site (SRS) recently visited Florida International University (FIU), a leading public research university in Miami, Florida. The…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":54950,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eicdev.fiu.edu\/phparc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eicdev.fiu.edu\/phparc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eicdev.fiu.edu\/phparc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eicdev.fiu.edu\/phparc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eicdev.fiu.edu\/phparc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54949"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/eicdev.fiu.edu\/phparc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54949\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54954,"href":"https:\/\/eicdev.fiu.edu\/phparc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54949\/revisions\/54954"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eicdev.fiu.edu\/phparc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eicdev.fiu.edu\/phparc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eicdev.fiu.edu\/phparc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eicdev.fiu.edu\/phparc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}