Prof. Mike Short
FFUSars Co-Director
Mike is the Class of 1941 Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering and the PI of the Mesoscale Nuclear Materials group, which focuses on trickly, coupled problems hindering carbon-free, baseload energy from being achieved at the pace which we all want. Our motto is “nuclear materials at the speed of thought,” so we develop far faster ways of measuring effects on materials as they happen. This way, advanced fission and fusion power can be introduced within the decade. Our group is heavily collaborative and experimental, with modeling & simulation often providing insight and understanding into what we measure. He is passionate about teaching and hands-on mentoring, believing strongly that if one works hard on the scientist and person in front of you, great science will naturally follow. He also believes that science is the last bastion of diplomacy in an increasingly polarized, fractured world. Alignment: Chaotic/Good
Rachel Shulman
FFUSars Co-Director
Before building FFUSars with Mike in 2023, Rachel ran undergrad programming at the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI) for six years. She has worked in a variety of roles in education for almost the entirety of her career, including teaching undergrad history and stints as a librarian, private tutor, and writing coach. She places relationships at the center of all of her work, believing that they form the bedrock of everything we do together at MIT.
Rachel’s research interests include not only the intersections of history and memory, especially in the American context, but also energy justice and building the nuclear energy workforce of the future. Rachel did her undergrad at Bryn Mawr College and holds an MA in History and an MS in Library and Information Science, both from the University of Illinois – Urbana Chamaign.