Education

Interview with Professor H.M. Prasser

About you

What motivates you to do research?

Nuclear safety, reliability, and efficiency is of paramount importance in a country relying to a large extent on electricity from nuclear power plants. We are strongly motivated to support this by excellent research and education.

What fascinates you about your research?

Besides the fascinating large-scale technology of a nuclear power plant, the strong multidisciplinary character and the safety relevance make our field attractive. Both aspects render knowledge obtained in our lab useful not only in research areas related nuclear power plants, but in many other fields as well, such as other energy conversion technologies and process engi-neering applications.

What is most important to you as tutor?

Students are advised to identify a curriculum of study that optimally suits their professional plans. We also help to overcome administrative challenges for the sake of achieving the best study plan possible.

What message do you want to convey as a tutor/role model to your students?

I aim to enable students to achieve real scientific innovation that can potentially result in a con-ference or journal publication. Mobility to carry out coursework at partner institutions is also supported, and in the case of excellent project results, we send students with to international conferences.

About your research

Research

Our Lab studies thermal fluid dynamics in nuclear power plants with a focus on heat removal from the fuel. Reliable cooling is essential for safety and efficiency. We develop our own measuring instrumentation and novel experimental techniques.

Main research areas (max 4 bullet points à 65 characters incl. spaces):

• Fundamental and applied studies of single and multi-phase flows 
• In-house development of novel measuring devices and experimental techniques
• Developing and validating codes for three-dimensional computational modelling (CFD)

Do you focus on experimental or computational science?

Both

What are the main tools/methods you work with?

• Computer codes for computational fluid dynamics 
• X-ray imaging devices
• Fusion neutron source for tomographic imaging 
• Innovative fluid dynamic measuring devices of our own development
• Test loops simulating the behavior of cooling channels in nuclear reactors

About your lab

What makes your lab special? How does it differ from other labs?

• Application of nuclear techniques for fluid dynamic measurements and technical imaging
• Close co-operation with Paul Scherrer Institute
• Domestic and international cooperation with leading institutions in the nuclear field
  (MIT, UniMich, Texas A&M, Uni Stuttgart, TokyoTech), industries (AXPO, ALPIQ) and regula-tor ENSI)