Dr. Robert E. Uhrig holds a joint (50%-50%) appointment as Distinguished Professor of Engineering in the Nuclear Engineering Department at the University of Tennessee and as Distinguished Scientist in the Instrumentation and Controls Division at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory under the UT/ORNL Science Alliance Program. His work at both institutions concerns the application of artificial intelligence methods, primarily expert systems and neural networks, to nuclear power plant systems. He is the founding Director of the University of Tennessee Center for Neural Engineering and Applications.
Prior to his early retirement in January 1986, Dr. Uhrig was Vice President of Florida Power & Light Company, one of the nation's largest utilities. For the previous twelve years, he had the responsibility for Advanced Systems and Technology, which included the Company's nuclear power licensing activities, the environmental licensing and planning, the corporate-wide research and development program, the nuclear quality assurance program, the quality improvement program, and the nuclear analysis and safety activities. He was the officer with the responsibility and sign-off authority for FPL on matters relating to both the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency and served as Chairman of the Corporate Nuclear (Safety) Review Board for 11 years.
From 1968 to 1973, Dr. Uhrig was Dean of the College of Engineering, Director of the Engineering and Industrial Experiment Station, and Director of GENESYS (a closed-circuit TV network in central and southeastern Florida offering graduate level engineering degree programs) at the University of Florida. He was appointed Dean Emeritus of the College of Engineering in 1989. While on leave of absence (1967-68), he was Deputy Assistant Director for Research for the Department of Defense and was responsible for the management of the Department's research programs in the physical sciences and engineering, as well as the initiation of Project THEMIS, a program to create new Centers of Excellence in universities.
From 1960 to 1968, Dr. Uhrig was Chairman of the Department of Nuclear Engineering Sciences at the University of Florida, where he initiated the Ph.D. degree program and an innovative research programs in the application of "random noise" techniques to nuclear reactor systems and in neutron wave and pulse propagation. Earlier, he was Associate Professor of Engineering Mechanics and Nuclear Engineering and Research Engineer for the AEC's Ames Laboratory at Iowa State University (1956-60), Instructor in the Department of Mechanics at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point while on active duty with the U.S. Air Force (1954-56), and held various teaching and research positions at Iowa State University while pursuing graduate work (1948-54).
Dr. Uhrig serves as a consultant to the U.S. Congress Office of Technology Assessment (1978- ). He was Chairman of the National Academy of Science/National Research Council Committee on "Nuclear Manpower Requirements" (1980-81), and a member of the NAS/NRC committees on "Shuttle Criticality Review and Hazards Analysis Audit" (1986-88), "U.S. Nuclear Engineering Education" (1989-90), "International Cooperation in Magnetic Fusion Research" (1983-84), "Future of Central Station Electric Power" (1984-85) and the NAS/NRC Engineering Research Board's Panel on "Energy, Mineral Resources and the Environment" (1984-85). He was a member of the Research Advisory Committee of the Electric Power Research Institute (1981-83), Chairman of its Advanced Power Systems Division Committee (1983) and initial Chairman of the Utility Coal Gasification Association founded by EPRI (1982-83). He served on the Department of Energy's Fossil Energy Advisory Committee (1978-80), as Chairman of the Atomic Industrial Forum's Domestic Safeguards Committee (1978-82), and as Chairman of the Three Mile Island Reactor Operator Retaining Program Review Committee (1979-80, 1984-85). He was Chairman of the Engineering Advisory Committee of the National Science Foundation (1972-73), President of the Southeastern Section of the American Society for Engineering Education (1972-73), a member of the Board of Directors of the Engineers' Council for Professional Development (1968-72), a member of the Board of Directors of the American Nuclear Society (1965-68), Chairman of its Education Committee (1962-64) and a member of the Executive Committee of the Alternate Energy Division (1984-87). He was a member of the American Nuclear Society exchange delegation to the People's Republic of China in 1980 and returned in 1981 on a technical lecture tour.
Dr. Uhrig received the B.S. degree (with honors) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois in 1948, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from Iowa State University in 1950 and 1954 respectively. He is a 1976 graduate of the Advanced Management Program of the Harvard Business School, and is a Registered Professional Engineer in Florida and Iowa. He is the author of over 150 technical and professional publications and 80 formal presentations, tutorials and seminars; a book, Random Noise Techniques in Nuclear Reactor Systems (Ronald Press 1970, published in Russian 1974), and the editor of two books based on symposia.
Dr. Uhrig was the recipient of the 1992 Glenn Murphy Award for Outstanding Contributions to Nuclear Engineering Education from the American Society for Engineering Education, the Secretary of Defense Meritorious Civilian Service Award in 1968, the 1969 National Pi Tau Sigma Richards Memorial Award by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the University of Illinois Alumni Honor Award for "Distinguished Service in Engineering" in 1970, and the Distinguished Achievement Citation from Iowa State University Alumni Association in 1980. He was elected a Fellow of the American Nuclear Society in 1970, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1980, and a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1980. His biography is included in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in Science and Engineering, and American Men and Women of Science.
Dr. Uhrig is a native of Raymond, Illinois (1928) and married Paula M. Schnepf (B.A., University of Northern Iowa, 1951) in 1954. They are the parents of seven children (now grown) and reside in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. UT Office (423) 974-3110, UT FAX (423) 974-0668. ORNL Office, (423) 574-5642, ORNL FAX (423) 241-3871, and e-mail address ruhrig@utk.edu