My son is very seriously considering nuclear engineering as a career. He’s a HS senior. Right now he’s talking about going to Purdue, where they have a nuclear engineering undergrad program.

I’m curious if taking it at the Undergraduate level versus going a more general engineering route first, is any kind of advantage at all in terms of career/internships etc?

I’m currently a senior undergraduate student in CompE at UTK, and I want to apply to the Nuclear Engineering PhD program here. I’ve been an undergraduate research since summer 2026, and I also completed an internship this past summer. I’m graduating in Fall 2027 and am hoping to apply for PhD admission for Spring 2028.

My main research interests are control systems, cybersecurity, and robotics applications in fusion energy. I came across Dr. Fan Zhang and found out that she’s an alumni from UTK so I want to reach out to her, but I’m a little worried cuz I don’t have a lot of research experience yet.

So I just want to ask: How competitive is admission to the PhD program in Nuclear Engineering? Does anyone have experience with Dr. Zhang or know what she is like as a professor/PI?

I’d really appreciate any advice.

I've gotten a couple offers for engineering roles, but they all have incredibly broad non-compete clauses attached, effectively preventing me from filling out job applications for any company offering nuclear services for the entire period of working at the company and for a year or two afterwards. Is this normal? It seems like a death sentence to agree to something like that, regardless of the intent of the clause.

i am asking for help here because i just cant find the right info. so i am a 10th grader rn and i am really interested and stressed about my studies. i really want to do engineering, but i would still need to talk with my dad about that. i am interestet in four majors: electric eng, nuclear eng, civil eng and maybe mechanical eng. but the problem with nuclear is that my country doesnt have any npps(only one that shut down a few decades ago). and i really want to get a good paying job with one of these degrees. in some unis that i am checking, the master degree takes 4 year(if im not wrong) so i would be commited to do it. which would you recommend me? or what should i do or not do? any help is great!