The Coefficient Life

It's our Season 1 finale!! I drive an electric vehicle. I recycle. I use energy companies that provide a good portion of their power through renewable sources. Am I making a difference? If, like me, that is something you think about daily, then join us for a today’s conversation with Richard Simmons. Richard is a Senior Research Engineer and Fellow at the Strategic Energy Institute. He has also advised the US Department of State on international policy issues related to renewable energy. He has authored numerous publications including the 2014 book Understanding the Global Energy Crisis and is one of today’s top minds in the fields of energy technologies, transportation energy technology and future energy policy and strategy. So let’s jump right into a conversation about energy policy and innovation, what the future of energy looks like in the USA and across the globe and start to get to the bottom of the big climate change questions we all have and get a better understanding of the real impact we’re having and how we are helping to save the future.

Ever wanted to talk to THE guy who’s in the know about climate change, clean and renewable energy and how to save the planet? We did. We got to sit down with Tim Lieuwen, the Executive Director of the Strategic Energy Institute. And international authority on clean energy. Tim has authored and edited 4 books, holds five patents, is the founder of TurbineLogic and is a multi-award-winning scientist who sits on the advisory boards of the Oak Ridge National Lab, Pacific Northwest national Lab and the National Renewable Energy Lab. We were lucky enough to grab some of Tim’s time and get into a very high-level discussion about how to change the future of the environment, as well as some of the realities behind the real impacts of the things we are doing, not just in hurting the environment, but the things we are doing to protect and save it.

Dan Kotlyar is not just a Professor of Nuclear and Radiological Engineering. He is the guy who is going to power our trips to the moon, mars and beyond. He sits down with our hosts to just touch the tip of the iceberg on what he is doing with new forms of Nuclear Propulsion, the Mars Mission and more. In what we hope is the first of many conversations with Dan, he gets us excited, about exciting particles for energy on space craft and celestial bodies.

Nolan Hertel is the President of the Health Physics Society, a radiation specialist and a facuty member at the Center for Radiation Protection Knowledge at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. His research in radiation detection and shielding and other fields is nothing short of groundbreaking. We had a brief discussion with Nolan about his work, the history of his journey into Nuclear Research and how it affects what is happening today in the realm of Nuclear Power.

Nuclear proliferation is a key topic when it comes to nuclear safety and living in a world of nuclear power and weapons. Join our chat with MIT grad and Director of the DOE National Nuclear Security Administrations Consortium for Enabling Technologies and Innovation, Anna Erickson as we discuss things that keep us safe in a nuclear world.

A fun and ineteresting chat with the Chair of Nuclear and Radiological Engineering and Medical Physics Program at Georgia Tech, Steven Bigalski. We discuss the early days of Nuclear energy, where it is now and what he's doing to advance the science and public perseption of Nuclear power so it can be a part of our future. Which he says "it needs to be".