Category: Research
ACU’s NEXT Lab submits construction application with NRC to build research reactor sponsored by Natura Resources
In yet another significant step toward the goal of building a molten salt research reactor, Abilene Christian University’s Nuclear Energy eXperimental Testing Lab submitted an application for a construction permit with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday. The application is the first for a new research reactor in more than 30 years and the … Continued
Development Corporation of Abilene commits $2.9 million to ACU’s NEXT Lab facility expansion
At its July meeting, the Abilene City Council approved a $2.93 million incentive package that enables the Development Corporation of Abilene to enter into an agreement with Abilene Christian University’s Nuclear Energy eXperimental Testing Lab to expand its research and development facility at the former Taylor Elementary School site. “This project is an incredible opportunity … Continued
ACU’s NEXT Lab awarded infrastructure grant from Department of Energy
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Nuclear Energy University Program (NEUP) announced a grant of $367,793 to be used for infrastructure at ACU’s Nuclear Energy eXperimental Testing Lab. The funding will support the radiochemistry aspect of NEXT Lab – specifically, establishing new and unique real-time direct chemical analysis capabilities for molten salt systems. For 2021, NEUP … Continued
ACU awarded CCCU STEM research grant
Abilene Christian University is one of nine recipients of a grant to enhance science, technology, engineering and mathematics research through the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities and its U.K. subsidiary, Scholarship & Christianity in Oxford. Nine CCCU member institutions were selected to receive the grant, which will provide funding to advance scientific research and … Continued
NEXT Lab student researcher awarded National Science Foundation fellowship
When Keaton Brewster graduates in May with a degree in physics and mathematics, he’ll be taking with him more than a diploma. A research proposal stemming from his work in ACU’s NEXT Lab has earned him a prestigious fellowship from the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowships Program. With his annual stipend of $34,000, Keaton … Continued
NEXT Lab advances reliable nuclear energy
Energy and electricity topics are dominating conversations in Texas after residents spent a week battling a major winter storm. Abilene Christian University, along with two other Texas universities, is at the forefront of advancing nuclear technology to address problems plaguing traditional energy sources – including unpredictable weather. Nuclear is the most dependable form of electricity … Continued
Research by ACU students, faculty published in Nature magazine
Abilene Christian University students and faculty in the Department of Engineering and Physics contributed to research being published this week in Nature, one of the world’s leading science magazines. “The asymmetry of antimatter in the proton” was published in the Feb. 24 issue. Understanding the properties of the proton helps physicists answer fundamental scientific questions. … Continued
NASA grant brings engineering intern’s project to ACU campus
Mitchell Schneller calls his summer internship at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida an “amazing opportunity.” Several other students call it amazing, too, because a grant from NASA to ACU’s Department of Engineering and Physics brought Schneller’s project to the Abilene campus. Now Schneller and fellow seniors Michael Ranger, Koby Rodgers and Cole Shannon are … Continued
10 Questions with ACU trustee and energy expert Doug Robison
A thin volume of Galileo’s 1610 landmark treatise The Starry Messenger sits on a bookshelf at oil and gas executive Doug Robison’s Abilene home. Within its pages, the famous astronomer, who turned his telescope to the stars to provide firsthand observation that ours is a sun-centered solar system and not an Earth-centered one, describes his … Continued