Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute - Page 3

Nickshu · Nickshu's Garage

Thanks all.

thingmon · 03-05-2023, 05:55 AM

Late to respond, but I didn't see any mention of opportunities for coop jobs over summers or full semesters mentioned. My son went to Texas A&M and had a number of coops. Learned a ton about the various companies and work structures/habits and decided that he liked compsci much better than electrical engineering and didn't like the larger corperations.

RPI bad a good coop program when I went there (91-92). But I don't know how it is now. I was married and transferred in from Hudson Valley Community College (also in Troy), so didn't get the 'full experience'. I'm from central NY, so winters were no big deal with a couple ice storm exceptions. Troy was ok when I was there. But, if in on campus housing, it shouldn't be a problem. Lots of city schools are in bad areas of town but have pretty good security.

Congrats on VT, if that's the way he goes.

PS RPI has a killer model train setup in the basement of one of the dorms. If anyone visits, definitely check it out.
https://union.rpi.edu/club-directory/rensselaer-model-railroad-society/

SpyderMike · 03-05-2023, 07:24 AM

As a slightly different approach, I used my Math/Physics degree to become a Navy Sub Nuke guy...as a civilian. I was "stationed" at Pearl Harbor working maintenance and testing of the power plants. Got my qual on two Nuke plants happened at Pearl and Bremerton. Excellent pay (plus 20%plus COLA), Hawaii, civilian, some Officer's privileges without a military commitment. They had a fast track program from GS 7 to GS 11/13 within a few years. It was a great job right out of school.

Nickshu · Nickshu's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpyderMike

As a slightly different approach, I used my Math/Physics degree to become a Navy Sub Nuke guy...as a civilian. I was "stationed" at Pearl Harbor working maintenance and testing of the power plants. Got my qual on two Nuke plants happened at Pearl and Bremerton. Excellent pay (plus 20%plus COLA), Hawaii, civilian, some Officer's privileges without a military commitment. They had a fast track program from GS 7 to GS 11/13 within a few years. It was a great job right out of school.

Good deal. Have several friends who are/were Navy nukes that say the same thing...when I was a Naval officer I was stationed on a sub tender, full of submarine Nuke LDOs. Many I still keep in touch with today and have helped us along this path. Also a friend in our Boy Scout troop's son just finished Nuclear Power school after graduating from Notre Dame on NROTC. Lots of good info from there too. My son is very excited about this path. Math/physics would be good for him too, he is incredible at both math and physics, he blows the curve in high school AP classes.

otto_kretschmer · 03-05-2023, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nickshu

Good deal. Have several friends who are/were Navy nukes that say the same thing...when I was a Naval officer I was stationed on a sub tender, full of submarine Nuke LDOs. Many I still keep in touch with today and have helped us along this path. Also a friend in our Boy Scout troop's son just finished Nuclear Power school after graduating from Notre Dame on NROTC. Lots of good info from there too. My son is very excited about this path. Math/physics would be good for him too, he is incredible at both math and physics, he blows the curve in high school AP classes.

What ship were you on? I was on the Mckee when I got out in 91.

Seahawk · 03-05-2023, 09:01 AM

vvv That is the key.

My Dad was an Army Nuke and taught for a tour in Idaho. He was there when one of the reactors had a core problem. He was on duty and entered the contaminated space.

He could not save anyone, but he he was that guy.

Again, VT will be a fantastic experience for him...frankly, with his big brain, anywhere

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nickshu

Good deal. Have several friends who are/were Navy nukes that say the same thing...when I was a Naval officer I was stationed on a sub tender, full of submarine Nuke LDOs. Many I still keep in touch with today and have helped us along this path. Also a friend in our Boy Scout troop's son just finished Nuclear Power school after graduating from Notre Dame on NROTC. Lots of good info from there too. My son is very excited about this path. Math/physics would be good for him too, he is incredible at both math and physics, he blows the curve in high school AP classes.

Nickshu · Nickshu's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by otto_kretschmer

What ship were you on? I was on the Mckee when I got out in 91.

Emory S Land. Still around, but now USNS.

CA_WhaleTail · 03-05-2023, 11:57 AM

Another choice...Penn State. they have a reactor on campus in State College.

My nephew just graduated. was in ROTC, dual degree nuclear and mechanical engineering, got paid well while in school, now working in the Navy 'nuke' program.

my brother was certainly happy when the Navy took over college costs!

otto_kretschmer · 03-06-2023, 09:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seahawk

vvv That is the key.

My Dad was an Army Nuke and taught for a tour in Idaho. He was there when one of the reactors had a core problem. He was on duty and entered the contaminated space.

He could not save anyone, but he he was that guy.

Again, VT will be a fantastic experience for him...frankly, with his big brain, anywhere

was that the accident when one of the rods got blown thru the roof?

I think that was the incident where the Army decided that the technology isn't ready for small reactors in the artic

otto_kretschmer · 03-06-2023, 09:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nickshu

Emory S Land. Still around, but now USNS.

OK,

they kept the Land and Cable and decommemed the McKee

a lot of things have changed since I got out

Seahawk · 03-07-2023, 04:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by otto_kretschmer

was that the accident when one of the rods got blown thru the roof?

I think that was the incident where the Army decided that the technology isn't ready for small reactors in the artic

https://ahf.nuclearmuseum.org/ahf/location/idaho-falls/

As an aside, my Dad did get stuck on the ice for a month doing artic nuke research.

Interesting times.

Nickshu · Nickshu's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by otto_kretschmer

OK,

they kept the Land and Cable and decommemed the McKee

a lot of things have changed since I got out

Correct. It's interesting that the McKee was the newest of the 3, but that's the one they decided to decommission. It's a unique USNS platform now b/c it has the largest active duty component on any of the USNS/MSC platforms. Sounds like they are extremely busy (as they were when I was onboard). The Navy needs more tenders but there are no plans to build them.

otto_kretschmer · 03-08-2023, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nickshu

Correct. It's interesting that the McKee was the newest of the 3, but that's the one they decided to decommission. It's a unique USNS platform now b/c it has the largest active duty component on any of the USNS/MSC platforms. Sounds like they are extremely busy (as they were when I was onboard). The Navy needs more tenders but there are no plans to build them.

The last I read was the McKee is going to be used as a target in a future SinkEx so it will be joining the Dixon on the bottom.