Undergraduate researchers design, build, and test real-world energy systems—before they graduate.
Contributed by Fort Lewis College
On a summer morning in Fort Lewis College’s Thermal Hydraulics Lab, senior Anna Tucker and her lab partner, Kamden Frye, worked on a pump designed to move liquid sodium—an explosive liquid metal—without ever actually touching the fluid.
Just a year ago, Tucker was simulating this process with computer models. Now, she’s building the real thing.
“I wasn’t expecting to get this level of opportunity as an undergrad,” said Tucker, who was recruited to FLC as a soccer player. “It’s so cool to be trusted with research this early in college.”
Tucker is one of nearly 18 FLC students participating in paid clean energy research this summer through the FLC Foundation’s Clean Energy Fund, an initiative designed to give undergraduates real-world experience while preparing them for high-impact careers.
Led by Billy Nollet, Ph.D., chair and professor of Physics & Engineering at FLC, the program blends technical learning with hands-on experimentation in areas like next-generation nuclear reactors, sustainable cement, and rural solar power.
“We’re giving undergrads work that’s normally reserved for Ph.D. students,” Nollet said. “They’re designing systems, running experiments, analyzing data—and they’re getting paid to do it.”
This summer, Tucker and her teammates constructed a sodium loop—a closed system used to simulate coolant processes in advanced nuclear reactors. These Generation IV reactors, still in development globally, use liquid sodium instead of water to transfer heat, increasing efficiency and safety while solving the spent nuclear fuel problem. The students’ work helps solve some of the remaining technical challenges for these high-need systems.
In another lab, a student team tackled a different global challenge: cement emissions. Traditional cement production is one of the largest industrial sources of carbon dioxide worldwide. FLC students are attempting a carbon-negative alternative by producing calcium hydroxide without burning limestone. This experiment is funded by a Department of Energy research grant where FLC students collaborate with faculty at major research universities.
Nollet said the donor-supported Clean Energy Fund helps position FLC faculty to win large research grants, like this one.
“Hopefully, this low-temperature process will greatly reduce carbon emissions in the future,” said Max Franklin, a junior who switched from marketing to engineering. “It feels good to be working on something that matters.”
Franklin and his lab partner, Sienna Mullin, are running experiments inside a pressure vessel to create sodium hydroxide, a precursor to the carbon-negative cement.
Their chemical process utilizes ammonia gas and ion-exchange resins, which are carefully controlled and monitored using software and sensors that the team developed themselves.
“It’s paid research, which means I can stay here over the summer and focus on learning,” Mullin said. “We’re building something important, and we’re trusted to do it well.”
That trust is central to Nollet’s approach. Students work as employees, clocking in and out, managing safety protocols, and reporting their findings in real time. By the time they graduate, most have built resumes that rival those of some graduate students.
Since 2017, nearly 40 students have come through Nollet’s lab. About half have gone on to fully funded master’s and Ph.D. programs at institutions like the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Cornell, and Oregon State. Others have landed jobs at national labs and engineering firms.
“My goal is for students to have options,” Nollet said. “Whether it’s grad school or straight into the workforce, they should leave here with skills and confidence.”
Alums Andrew Napora and Hannah Carlson both launched careers through Nollet’s lab. Napora’s liquid sodium research led to a Ph.D. and an engineering role at Los Alamos National Laboratory, while Carlson discovered her passion in thermodynamics. She now works as an engineer for Zap Energy, attempting to build the world’s first fusion reactor.
Nollet said the research experience provides students not only with hands-on learning opportunities but also builds their self-esteem.
“They’re not just reading about energy systems—they’re building them,” Nollet said. “That kind of exposure builds confidence and opens doors.”
“Whether students want to work in national research labs, with renewable energy companies, or as engineers in rural communities, we want to make sure they’re prepared for that,” Nollet said. “And that starts by trusting them with real science from day one.”
“If something interests you enough to think about it outside of class,” Napora added, “chase it; that’s what changed everything for me.”
