Author: Youndo

🎉iFAN Lab at NPIC&HMIT and ANS Annual Meeting 2025!

iFAN Lab team had an incredible time in NPIC&HMIT and American Nuclear Society Annual Meeting 2025 in Chicago! We were proud to present our latest research in nuclear cybersecurity and robotics:

🛡️Undergraduate student Max Goddard showcased our cybersecurity flow loop tested.
🛡️ PhD student Michael Doran presented two papers, including a vulnerability assessment & management tool for advanced reactors. A shoutout to Michael Rowland and Sandia National Laboratories Cyber Team
⚛️ PhD student Stephen Yoo Presented our work on physical and cyber security for molten salt reactor- a shoutout to the collaborative efforts from Dr. Shaheen Dewji and Dr. Karen Kirkland groups and Sandia National Laboratories,
🤖PhD student Youndo Do presented our work in teleoperation by using our iFANPP, a realistic 3D NPP digital twin with ROS2 integration for remote operation and maintenance.

🙏 A heartfelt thank you to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for supporting our work and making our Cybersecurity, Robotics, and AI research possible.

👏 Congratulations to Dr. Zhang on Receiving a National Award!

Dr. Zhang was awarded the prestigious American Nuclear Society Landis Young Member Engineering Achievement Award and recognized for pioneering work in nuclear cybersecurity and AI/ML, including landmark collaborations with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and research in robotic monitoring for nuclear safety and security.

“I would like to thank all my students, colleagues, collaborators, and mentors who supported me throughout the journey. I wouldn’t be here without all of you and our great nuclear community American Nuclear Society. I would like to thank U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) who fund all these innovative research nuclear cybersecurity, AI/ML, Robotics to allow us bring ideas to reality.”

Nuclear Cybersecurity Workshop

Our inaugural Nuclear Cybersecurity Workshop was a tremendous success, with over 50 attendees joining us for a day of insightful discussions and presentations on nuclear cybersecurity.

Our keynote speaker, Dr. Rian Bahran, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Reactors at U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), delivered powerful remarks on the critical importance of cybersecurity in nuclear energy. Another keynote speaker, Mitchell Hewes, Information and Computer Security Officer at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), emphasized the strong collaboration between Georgia Tech and IAEA in the field of nuclear cybersecurity. Speakers from Idaho National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Southern Nuclear, Sentinel Devices, universities, and our own students and researchers presents advanced research and capabilities for collaboration. Some in attendance even said they wished we had more hours in the day – the discussion and collaboration were that good!


Many thanks to all of the people who supported this workshop and made it great! Together, we are making great strides in securing the future of nuclear energy. 🌟 We would also like to thank the support from Georgia Tech Strategic Energy Institute, and Georgia Tech College of Engineering, and our great staff members!

Special thanks to all the co-leads for their supports and dedication: Dr. Steve Biegalski, Dr. Valerie Thomas, Dr. Guenevere Qian Chen, Dr.Alexander Miranda, and Dr. Christine Conwell!