Xu Wu

Dr. Wu is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Nuclear Engineering at North Carolina State University. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in nuclear engineering in 2017 from the University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign. Before joining NC State, he was a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Dr. Wu’s research has revolved around uncertainty/sensitivity analysis, calibration, validation, and reduced order modeling. The goal is to build a comprehensive framework that integrates calibration and validation to improve prediction. This framework accounts for all major sources of quantifiable uncertainties in Modeling & Simulation (M&S), i.e., uncertainties from parameter, experiment, model, and code. It also builds intelligent feedback between simulations and experiments and essentially bridges the gap between models and data. This framework provides a potential solution to the ANS Nuclear Grand Challenge on “Simulation & Experimentation”.

Dr. Wu’s current and future research aims at combining scientific Machine Learning, experimentation, and M&S into a unified approach to improve the predictive capabilities of computer models and enable reduced reliance on expensive measurement data. Additionally, the application of such research will be focused on risk and economics evaluations of advanced nuclear reactors, such as small modular reactors and micro-reactors. The ultimate goal is to dramatically reduce the capital and operating costs of nuclear systems to maintain global technology leadership for nuclear energy.