Find Faculty Experts

Education
- Degree: Ph.D.
- Year:
- Institution and Location
  University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
- Major Discipline
  Quantum Engineering and System Sciences
- Degree: M.S.
- Year:
- Institution and Location
  University of California, Berkeley, CA
- Major Discipline
  Nuclear Engineering
- Degree: B.S.
- Year:
- Institution and Location
  Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
- Major Discipline
  Nuclear Engineering

Karen Vierow Kirkland

Associate Department Head, Associate Professor, Department of Nuclear Engineering

Department(s): Nuclear Engineering
Campus: Texas A&M University

Contact Information

Phone: 979-458-0600
E-mail: vierow@tamu.edu

Personal/Dept/Lab URL:
http://engineering.tamu.edu/nuclear/people/vierow-karen

Research Topic(s)

Hydrogen production; Nuclear safety and security; Electric power generation and storage; Modeling, simulation and optimization of energy systems

Research Summary

My research focuses on fundamental thermal hydraulics phenomena and nuclear reactor safety analysis. Current research programs include studies of steam-water and air-water counter-current flow limitation in large diameter pipes; long-term containment cooling for Boiling Water Reactors under Station Blackout conditions; reactor safety system design; and severe accident analysis, in which core damage has occurred. My Laboratory for Nuclear Heat Transfer Systems is equipped with a 150-kW steam generator, four test sections, state-of-the-art flow measurement devices and a National Instruments data acquisition system. Analytical capabilities include MELCOR and RELAP5-3D reactor safety codes, VIPRE subchannel code and GOTHIC thermal hydraulic code.

Professional Background

2006-Present	Associate Professor (tenured effective Sep 2009), Department of Nuclear Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
2001-2006	Assistant Professor, School of Nuclear Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
1993-2000	Assistant Chief Engineer, Nuclear Power Engineering Corporation
1990-1993	Engineer, General Electric Nuclear Energy
1988-1990	Research Assistant, Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of California, Berkeley
1987-1988	Visiting Researcher, Hitachi Energy Research Laboratory

Faculty by Last Name
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- Q
- R
- S
- T
- U
- V
- W
- X
- Y
- Z
Themes, Areas, and Topics

Like us on
Connect on
Follow us on
View us on

Search Faculty Experts

Find Faculty Experts

Education

Karen Vierow Kirkland

Contact Information

Research Topic(s)

Research Summary

Professional Background

Faculty by Last Name

Themes, Areas, and Topics

Featured Faculty Profile

Charles Aubeny

Find Faculty Experts

Contact

Address