ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
Latest Magazine Issues
Jul 2026
Jan 2026
2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
August 2026
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Seven projects selected for DARPA’s Rads to Watts
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has selected seven teams for its Rads to Watts program, setting off a competition to design radiovoltaic cells capable of providing power in extreme environments such as deep sea and space.
The teams are now working on developing a unit cell, simple demonstrations that their design ideas work. These are expected to be low power but capable of being scaled up into a higher-power array.
William (Bill) Robert Kimel was elected President of the American Nuclear Society (ANS) in 1978. He served in many positions at ANS including on the Education, Executive, Planning and Steering Committees since 1958 and was a member of the Board of Directors from 1973- 76. He was named a Fellow of ANS in 1969.
He was a pioneer in nuclear engineering education. He was born on May 2, 1922. From 1946-58, Dr. Kimel taught at Kansas State and also served as head of the university’s nuclear engineering department from 1958-68. He organized and headed what would become the first accredited nuclear engineering department in the United States.
In 1969, he moved to the University of Missouri-Columbia, and served there as dean of the engineering department until 1986. He was named dean emeritus and professor emeritus of nuclear engineering upon his retirement.
In addition to his career in education, Dr. Kimel’s experience included industrial work as an engineer for Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, Boeing Airplane, Westinghouse Electric Company, U.S. Forest Products Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory.
Dr. Kimel participated in two Geneva Atoms for Peace Conferences as a delegate of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission in 1964 and as a representative/reporter in 1971. In 1981, he was given the Bliss Award for the most outstanding contribution to military engineering education, or for promoting recognition of the importance of technical leadership in the National Defense establishment.
He holds a BS (1944) and an MS (1949) in mechanical engineering from Kansas State, and a PhD in engineering mechanics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1956.
Dr. William Kimel passed away on December 5, 2002.
Read Nuclear News from July 1978 for more on William R. Kimel.
