Faculty and students from Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, spent a week at the TEES Nuclear Security Science and Policy Institute (NSSPI) in November to discuss nuclear security education and experience the NSSPI curriculum firsthand.
Their stop at NSSPI was part of a longer trip to prominent university programs in nuclear security throughout the U.S. meant to expose the students and educators to the state-of-the-art in the field.
GMU is the only university in Indonesia offering a nuclear-engineering curriculum. The university’s nuclear engineering study program was established in 1977 in order to fulfill the demand for nuclear engineers who could develop nuclear technology in Indonesia, especially in the form of nuclear power. The program boasts approximately 230 current students and 1,100 alumni working in the nuclear industry, nuclear research institutes, the nuclear regulatory body, and more.
While at NSSPI, the Indonesian delegation attended presentations on current NSSPI courses and distance education modules. They also visited NSSPI’s teaching laboratories, where they completed an exercise in the Radiation Detection Lab. They met with the local student chapter of the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management (INMM) and discussed the steps required to form a similar student chapter at GMU. The participants were also able to speak with students and faculty members in a casual setting at the INMM barbecue at Lake Bryan.