Dr. Brendan Kochunas is an Associate Professor of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences (NERS) at the University of Michigan. He received his PhD from the department in 2013 and was a finalist for the Graduate School’s Richard F. and Eleanor A. Towner Prize for Outstanding PhD Research. He has 20 years of expertise in computational reactor analysis and reactor design. In particular, he is the original developer of the MPACT neutronics code and has been a primary developer of MPACT and VERA-CS in the CASL project. Within CASL received the first CASL Knight Award for technical contributor of the year in 2011 as graduate student. In 2017 he was a recipient of the University of Michigan’s Ted Kennedy Family Faculty Team Excellence Award for his contributions to VERA which received an R&D 100 award in 2016. Prior to becoming a professor, Dr. Kochunas worked as an Assistant Research Scientist at UM. Recently, he has led projects to enhance automation of multi-unit SMRs that involved development of holistic control simulation methods. As well as led several other projects looking into advanced controls and digital twins.
Dr. Kochunas has co-chaired two PhD students, and served on the PhD committee of 5 other students. Since 2019, he has graduated 7 PhD students and currently oversees 7 students. He has authored or coauthored over 40 journal articles and more than 100 conference proceedings. He was an inaugural recipient of the Distinguished Early Career Award from DOE-NE. He was also the Charles and Elizabeth Schrock Faculty Development Professor from 2022-2025, and a 2023 Faculty Fellow for UM’s Institute for Energy Solutions. In 2024, he received the ANS Reactor Physics Division’s Early Career Reactor Physicist Award. In 2025 he received the NERS Faculty Excellence Award, and in 2026 was awarded UM’s John F. Ullrich Education Excellence Award by the College of Engineering.