1. Hello. Please introduce yourself.
à Hello! My name is Faris Sweidan and I am from Jordan. I am 30 years old and I came to Korea in July 2014 to be a part of the KINS-KAIST Master’s program then I completed my Ph.D. this year in the Nuclear Fuel Materials Laboratory of KAIST. Thank you for having me!
2. What field are you researching? Please explain about your major in detail.
à For about 6 years now, I am doing research in the Nuclear Fuel Materials Laboratory under the supervision of Professor Hojin Ryu. During my graduate studies, I explored a wide range of research areas including Accident Tolerant Fuels and Cladding, uncertainty and sensitivity analyses of nuclear fuel performance, Finite Element Modelling of new nuclear fuel designs, high-temperature compressive creep testing of novel high entropy alloys, functionally graded materials fabrication, Mesoscale hybrid phase-field kinetic Monte Carlo simulations, nuclear fuel fragmentation and pulverization, CANDU fuel performance evaluation, material properties prediction using machine learning, high entropy alloys powder metallurgy and sintering in collaboration with MIT, and transient simulations of lead-cooled fast reactors.
3.Do you have any hobbies in your spare time or in get over a difficult researching?
à Sure! There is a wide variety of hobbies that I usually do which mostly depends on the weather. Cycling in Daejeon in the beautiful nature was my favorite hobby for a very long time in addition to going out with friends and colleagues. We all know that graduate school and doing research can be quite stressful in most cases, but meeting my friends and colleagues and going out for long cycling and occasionally camping helped me a lot in maintaining a healthy mental state and mindset.
4. Were there any inconveniences or difficulties in life in Korea life?
à Life in Korea was easier than I expected before coming here. Everything was easy and people are nice and helpful. But as many of international students agree, the language barrier was significantly limiting. Luckily, I formed great friendships with Korean friends and colleagues and they are always happy to help if I need anything done that heavily relies on communications in Korean.
5. What would you like to do when you return to your country?
à That’s a good question! The future is always uncertain but I am planning to continue doing research in a nuclear engineering related institute or university. I want to utilize what I learned at KAIST in my country to help and contribute in the development of the nuclear sector.
6. What would you like to say to those who want to major in nuclear?
à I would like to use this opportunity to encourage new students who are interested in nuclear engineering as a major to pursue their interests. Studying and doing research in nuclear is very fun and interesting. I come from Jordan, a country that is considered a beginner in the nuclear sector and I was brave enough to decide to study nuclear engineering. And it was the best decision I made! Follow your dreams and you will not regret it!
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