Katy Huff

Kathryn D. Huff is a Blue Waters Associate Professor in the Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, affiliated with the Grainger College of Engineering. She directs the Advanced Reactor Fuel Cycles Laboratory and previously served as Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy (2021–2024). Her research focuses on advanced reactor designs, molten salt reactors, and computational methods for nuclear engineering. She earned her Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and B.A. in Physics from the University of Chicago.

Education:

• Ph.D., Nuclear Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2013
• B.A., Physics, University of Chicago, 2008

Research Interests:

• Advanced reactor designs (e.g., molten salt, high-temperature gas reactors)
• Scientific computing and reproducibility
• Fuel cycle simulation (e.g., Cyclus software)
• Open-source software development in nuclear engineering

Key Contributions:

• Co-author of Effective Computation in Physics: Field Guide to Research with Python
• Developer of the Cyclus fuel cycle simulator
• Leadership in DOE-funded nuclear energy initiatives

Awards: Includes the Nuclear News 40 Under 40, Distinguished Public Service Award (ANS), and Secretary's Honor Award (DOE).

Advising & Labs: Oversees the Advanced Reactors and Fuel Cycles Group, offering postdoctoral, graduate, and undergraduate research opportunities in reactor design, fuel cycle analysis, and computational tools.