Ayman Hawari

Distinguished Professor of Nuclear Engineering, Director of Nuclear Reactor Program

Director of Nuclear Reactor Program
  • 919-515-4598
  • Burlington Laboratory 2116

Dr. Hawari is interested in performing experimental and computational investigation (simulations) to understand the fundamentals of the interaction of radiation with matter and the resulting ramifications that impact the engineering of nuclear systems.  Currently, his research group conducts measurements and simulations (using ab initio and molecular dynamics methods) to investigate the scattering of thermal neutrons in matter and to generate thermal neutron scattering cross section data. In addition, they apply atomistic modeling techniques and develop experiments to study the behavior of accident tolerant fuel in the extreme radiation and temperature environments of a nuclear reactor.  Hawari’s group is also engaged in the validation and benchmark of modern nuclear reactor simulation tools in support of transient testing of nuclear fuel. All of these thrust areas directly support the development of Advanced Nuclear Reactors including Small Modular Reactor concepts.

Dr. Hawari’s work also focuses on developing and utilizing radiation beams as probes of matter at the nano-scale. This includes the utilization of thermal neutron beams in imaging and scattering applications, and the use of slow positron beams to assay nano-porosity in matter. These types of beams can be generated using a nuclear reactor such as the PULSTAR research reactor on the NCSU campus. Therefore, he is interested in the development of experimental facilities for nondestructive examination at research reactors. Information about the PULSTAR reactor and facilities developed by Hawari’s group can be found at https://www.ne.ncsu.edu/nrp/

Education

Ph.D. 1995

Nuclear Engineering

University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

M.S.E. 1990

Nuclear Engineering

University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

B.S.E. 1987

Nuclear Engineering

University of Missouri-Rolla

Research Description

Dr. Hawari's work covers various areas that are important for the design of Advanced Nuclear Reactors, including thermal neutron scattering cross sections data generation, computational and experimental investigation of accident tolerant fuel, and the development of modern computational methods to support analysis of transient fuel testing experiments.

Publications

Benchmark of Neutron Thermalization in Graphite Using a Pulsed Slowing-Down-Time Experiment
Lee, E., Fleming, N. C., & Hawari, A. I. (2023, February 26), NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING. https://doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2022.2162789
Challenge for the validation of high-fidelity multi-physics LWR modeling and simulation: Development of new experiments in research reactors
Vaglio-Gaudard, C., Destouches, C., Hawari, A., Avramova, M., Ivanov, K., Valentine, T., … Hudelot, J.-P. (2023), FRONTIERS IN ENERGY RESEARCH, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenrg.2023.1110979
FLASSH 1.0: Thermal Scattering Law Evaluation and Cross-Section Generation for Reactor Physics Applications
Fleming, N. C., Manring, C. A., Laramee, B. K., Crozier, J. P. W., Lee, E., & Hawari, A. I. (2023, April 21), NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING. https://doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2023.2194195
High-Resolution Gamma-Ray Spectrometry of Pebble Bed Reactor Fuel Using Adaptive Digital Pulse Processing
Saxena, S., & Hawari, A. I. (2023, February 3), NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY. https://doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2022.2148839
Modeling fission spikes in nuclear fuel using a multigroup model of electronic energy transport
Wormald, J. L., & Hawari, A. I. (2022), JOURNAL OF NUCLEAR MATERIALS, 566. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2022.153797
The Effect of Fluorinated Solvents on the Physicochemical Properties, Ionic Association, and Free Volume of a Prototypical Solvate Ionic Liquid
Burba, C. M., Feightner, K., Liu, M., & Hawari, A. (2022, January 21), CHEMPHYSCHEM. https://doi.org/10.1002/cphc.202100548
Characterization and Implementation of A Dynamic Neutron Imaging System at the PULSTAR Reactor
Datta, A., & Hawari, A. I. (2021, September 8), JOURNAL OF SIGNAL PROCESSING SYSTEMS FOR SIGNAL IMAGE AND VIDEO TECHNOLOGY. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11265-021-01694-8
Out-of-pile and postirradiated examination of lanthanide and lanthanide-palladium interactions for metallic fuel
Benson, M. T., Harp, J. M., Xie, Y., Yao, T., Tolman, K. R., Wright, K. E., … Cai, Q. (2021), JOURNAL OF NUCLEAR MATERIALS, 544. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2020.152727
Impact of magnetic structure and thermal effects on vibrational excitations and neutron scattering in uranium mononitride
Wormald, J. L., Hawari, A., & Zerkle, M. L. (2020), ANNALS OF NUCLEAR ENERGY, 143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2020.107447
Material defect study of thallium lead iodide (TlPbI3) crystals for radiation detector applications
Yang, G., Phan, Q. V., Liu, M., Hawari, A., & Kim, H. (2020), Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 954, 161516. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2018.10.194

View all publications via NC State Libraries

Grants

Development of Thermal Neutron Scattering Law Evaluations
US Dept. of Energy (DOE)(10/01/21 - 9/30/23)
Enhanced Safety, Operations, and Utilization Infrastructure at the NCSU PULSTAR Reactor
US Dept. of Energy (DOE)(10/01/22 - 9/30/23)
TSA: Understanding irradiation behavior of ultrawide bandgap Ga2O3 high temperature sensor materials for advanced nuclear reactor systems
US Dept. of Energy (DOE)(4/01/22 - 9/30/24)
Understanding irradiation behaviors of ultrawide bandgap Ga2O3 high temperature sensor materials for advanced nuclear reactor systems
US Dept. of Energy (DOE)(10/01/21 - 9/30/24)
Elemental Analysis By Neutron Activation Analysis Of Metals And Metalloids for US EPA.
US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)(1/01/20 - 12/31/21)
Instrumentation for Enhanced Safety, Utilization, and Operations Infrastructure at the NCSU PULSTAR Reactor
US Dept. of Energy (DOE)(10/01/21 - 9/30/23)
NNCI: North Carolina Research Triangle Nanotechnology Network (RTNN)
National Science Foundation (NSF)(9/01/20 - 8/31/25)
Implementation of Infrastructure for Molten Salt Reactor Development at the PULSTAR Reactor
US Dept. of Energy (DOE)(10/01/20 - 9/30/23)
Development and Evaluation of Neutron Thermalization Integral Benchmarks for Advanced Reactor Applications
US Dept. of Energy (DOE)(10/01/19 - 9/30/22)
TSA: Neutron Activation of Holmium-166 to Support the Development of Radioactive Bandages for the Treatment of Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer; Binghamton University
Binghamton University, State University of New York(7/15/19 - 7/14/20)