Abdulsalam I. Shakhatreh, a graduate student advised by Assistant Professor Juliana Pacheco Duarte, is the recipient of the Decommissioning & Environmental Sciences Division (DESD) Graduate Scholarship from the American Nuclear Society (ANS).

The scholarship is awarded to a candidate who best demonstrates an optimal combination of high standards in the areas of academic, leadership and personal values and who also assert a stated interest in the professional arena represented by the DESD charter.

Shakhatreh earned a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from Virginia Tech in 2014. In 2015, he started his nuclear career at Robatel Technologies in Roanoke, Virginia, as a mechanical design engineer for nuclear equipment. He is currently pursuing his M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Nuclear Engineering with a research focus on the long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel in dry storage cask systems.

“Abdulsalam is an outstanding student in our NE Program,” said Duarte. “The ANS Scholarship is a recognition of his work and important research."