Adrien Couet

Dr. Adrien Couet is a Professor in the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's College of Engineering, where he leads the Materials Degradation under Corrosion and Radiation (MaDCoR) laboratory. He also manages the UW Ion Beam Laboratory, a Nuclear Science User Facility. Prior to joining UW-Madison, he worked as a nuclear materials research engineer at EDF in France after earning his PhD from Penn State University in 2014.

His research focuses on fundamental materials degradation in extreme environments, specializing in:

• Nuclear materials behavior under irradiation
• Corrosion mechanisms in light water and molten salt reactors
• Advanced characterization techniques and first-principles modeling
• High-throughput alloy design using machine learning
• Development of radiation-resistant compositionally complex alloys

Publication analysis reveals strong emphasis on nuclear materials degradation, molten salt corrosion mechanisms, radiation damage in advanced alloys, and innovative characterization methods. His recent work increasingly incorporates machine learning for materials discovery and corrosion prediction.

Major Awards:

• Schmidt Futures Innovation Fellow (2023)
• Journal of Nuclear Materials Rising Star Awards Shortlist (2022)
• Grainger Associate Professor (2021)
• Vilas Faculty Early-Career Investigator Award (2021)
• Multiple early-career recognitions from Grainger Institute and US NRC

He leads significant research initiatives including the MaDCoR laboratory's programs on fuel cladding corrosion and molten salt reactor materials. As co-organizer of the Nuclear Innovation Bootcamp, he trains future nuclear entrepreneurs. His work involves extensive collaboration with national laboratories and industry partners.