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The University of Tennessee College of Engineering 114 Perkins Hall Knoxville, TN 37996-2012 |
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| Newsletter
of the UT College of Engineering |
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Faculty Focus
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While he no longer teaches at UT, Uhrig continues to do research on a part-time basis, and his Distinguished Scientist Professor appointment allows him to split his work between UT and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).
His research for the past decade at both institutions has been the application of artificial intelligence technologies to complex systems.
"I am dedicated to helping with our country's energy problems," said Uhrig, "and I'm concerned about what we are doing about the generation of electricity and transportation fuels. As of now, there is no single best solution to our many complex, interwoven energy problems."
Most of Uhrig's research involves nuclear power plants, but he has also worked on other types of energy systems, such as the electric transmission grid and fossil and hydropower plants. He explains that the primary focus for this research is to understand how a system is operating; to detect, diagnose, and fix its problems; and, more importantly, to assure that it is operating safely and efficiently.
After graduating with honors from the University of Illinois in 1948, Uhrig began teaching engineering mechanics and entered graduate school at Iowa State University. In 1951 he switched his focus to the newly established nuclear engineering program, and he began working at the Atomic Energy Commission's Ames Laboratory at Iowa State. Describing it as a "busy and exciting time in an interesting field," Uhrig began laboratory testing of the physical and thermal properties of materials for nuclear systems.
After earning his master's and doctoral degrees in theoretical and applied mechanics from Iowa State in 1950 and 1954, respectively, he was called up for service in the United States Air Force and was assigned to teach engineering mechanics at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point from 1954 to 1956.
Uhrig served as chairman of the Department of Nuclear Engineering at the University of Florida from 1960 to 1968, and then as the dean of the College of Engineering from 1968 to 1973. From 1973 to 1986 he was also vice-president for advanced systems and technology at Florida Power and Light Company, where his responsibilities included nuclear safety and nuclear licensing.
In 1967 Uhrig took a year's leave from the University of Florida to serve as deputy assistant director of research for the Department of Defense, where, through a program known as THEMIS, he helped create new centers of excellence for research at universities in the United States.
Uhrig became involved in random-noise techniques research while at the University of Florida, and in 1970 he published the book Random Noise Techniques in Nuclear Reactor Systems, which became a classic text used in nuclear engineering programs for nearly 15 years.
This area of research ultimately led to his studies in the application of artificial intelligence to complex systems, including nuclear power plants. In 1997 he co-authored the book Fuzzy and Neural Approaches in Engineering with former UT colleague Lefteri Tsoukalas of Purdue University.
Uhrig has also been a consultant to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), where he served on the Nuclear Safety Research Review Committee for six years and on the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards for four years.
He also served on a National Academy of Science committee that investigated the 1986 Challenger shuttle explosion. Uhrig taught nuclear engineering at UT from 1986 through 1998.
After his retirement from 12 years in the classroom came Uhrig's "post-retirement employment"--the Distinguished Scientist Professor appointment, a four-year tenure that will end in December of this year.
Uhrig's research and his involvement with the NRC and other prestigious government safety committees have brought him many honors, including the Secretary of Defense Meritorious Civilian Service award in 1968, the ASME Richards Memorial award in 1969, the ANS Glenn Murphy award in 1992, and the Phi Kappa Phi medallion and distinguished member awards in 1997. He is also a fellow in the ASME, ANS, and AAAS technical societies.
Although Uhrig will be retiring again at the end of this year, he expects to continue to serve the nuclear engineering community with his UT-based research efforts.
"It's been an exciting career," he said. "I've been very fortunate. UT and ORNL have been very good to me."
During his off-time, Uhrig lives in Florida with his wife, Paula, and enjoys spending time with his seven children and many grandchildren.
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Story by Claire Johnson
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