Industry Advisory Board

Doug Adkisson, nuclear engineering ’76, MBA ’88, has 40 years’ experience in the nuclear industry. He spent the majority of his career on commercial and Department of Energy-related projects working first with Siemens, then later at AREVA, where held a variety of senior positions in nuclear engineering, licensing, operations, research and development, and reactor services. He was a senior operating manager at AREVA’s largest U.S. nuclear fuel facility. Later, as vice president of operations, he commissioned a joint venture building two new nuclear facilities for the DOE. Adkisson has extensive experience working with light water reactors, managing reactor services, and fuel research. He’s managed projects in the U.S., Europe, and Taiwan. 

Adkisson joined TerraPower in 2008 as senior vice president of operations to help launch a new technology-innovation company formed by Bill Gates and a group of like-minded visionaries to develop nuclear energy sources that are sustainable, emission-free, and cost-competitive. Partnering with another company, TerraPower has produced a traveling wave reactor, valued for its potential to produce power from a nearly inexhaustible source of fuel. Adkisson retired from TerraPower in 2017, but remains a consultant.

Teresa Bailey, Computational Physicist, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Robert Gamble is responsible for design, analysis, and validation of the NuScale Small Modular Reactor. Gamble has 30 years of experience in the energy industry, a majority of which is in the development and licensing of new nuclear plants.

Gamble led major portions of the international technology program and Nuclear Regulatory Commission pre-application review for GE’s ESBWR Gen 3 light water reactor. Subsequently, he led design finalization and preparation of the design certification application for the U.S. NRC. Prior to this, he worked on design and licensing activities on the GE ABWR and SBWR light water reactors. As part of the ABWR development activities, he led the modification of the safety systems and severe accident mitigation systems for adaptation to European/Finnish standards as a key member of the proposal team for the bid in Finland.

Gamble came to NuScale from AREVA Solar, where he completed design, construction, commissioning and startup of a 125MWe thermal solar plant as the vice president of Engineering and GM for North America Operations.

Gamble earned his Ph.D., M.S. and B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and is a graduate of the Harvard Business School AREVA Executive Management Training Program.

Stephanie Harsche (nee Antoine) is manager of nuclear design and spent fuel pool criticality for the fuels engineering group at Westinghouse Electric Co. in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania. The group is tasked with supporting domestic and international customers with their reload and spent fuel pool needs.

John Jackson is national technical director for the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy’s Microreactor Program, which is focused on supporting development and deployment of rapidly evolving microreactor technology.  He most recently served as the Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear technical interface, where he ensured that the nuclear industry had facilitated and appropriate access to DOE national laboratory capability.  Prior to this, Jackson was industry program lead for the office’s Nuclear Science User Facilities, with a focus on characterization of irradiated fuels and materials. 

In these capacities, Jackson has worked closely with the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy and the nuclear industry to ensure that DOE facilities are used effectively to maintain the current reactor fleet and to enable innovation. Jackson has over 20 years of experience in the areas of mechanical testing and fracture mechanics. He also has over three years of experience in extreme environment materials characterization and drilling mechanics at the ExxonMobil Upstream Research Co. in Houston, Texas.

Jackson holds Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of Washington, and a B.S. in mechanical engineering technology from Central Washington University. 

Daniel Jordheim, nuclear engineering ’87, M.S. ’91, is manager of Fuel Design Neutronics at the Framatome nuclear fuel manufacturing site in Richland, Washington. Fuel design engineering in Richland serves the needs of BWR fuel reload customers throughout the U.S. as well as in the Asian rim market, and is matrixed into the Framatome worldwide fuel design engineering organization. 

Previous positions held by Jordheim include engineering positions at both a PWR and a BWR as well as being an SRO-certified operations supervisor at a BWR. Jordheim also held positions in commercial development and sales with Siemens, where he served as a fuel contract bid proposal engineer and an engineering services proposal developer. A proud double alumnus of Oregon State, Jordheim also holds an MBA from Washington State University.

Charles Keller, Nuclear Engineering '07, is a senior industry consultant, with diverse nuclear experience, providing project management, advice, and services in the evaluation and development of nuclear technology, decommissioning, and major projects. He has worked with clients in Asia, United States, Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, Europe, and the Middle East. Keller currently works with multiple large and small businesses in technical and business management in the nuclear decommissioning field.

Keller began his nuclear career working for Entergy Operations as a Reactor Engineer and Project Manager, managing used nuclear fuel, in vessel maintenance during refueling outages, and supported power operations. Following his time with the utility, he joined CH2M HILL supporting nuclear licensing compliance, technology assessments, and strategic consulting, including independent due diligence for mergers and major projects. After leaving CH2M HILL, Keller began providing his services as an independent consultant to multiple businesses, large and small.

Paul Lorenzini, Ph.D. nuclear engineering ’69, has extensive experience in both executive management and nuclear operations. He began his career with Atomics International, a division of Rockwell International, after earning his Ph.D. from Oregon State. While at Rockwell, he was involved in developing safety analysis codes for design of the liquid metal-cooled fast breeder reactor. During this period he attended law school and earned his J.D. He also became involved in the public controversy over nuclear power and was co-chair in 1976 of the California campaign committee organized to oppose an anti-nuclear initiative.

Lorenzini returned to Oregon to join a Portland law firm, where he represented leaders in Eastern Oregon who intervened in state regulatory proceedings in support of a proposed nuclear plant in their community. Lorenzini later re-joined Rockwell International at the Hanford nuclear defense complex in Eastern Washington. Rockwell employed more than 5,000 people and was responsible for nuclear waste management, fuel reprocessing, the Basalt Waste Isolation Project, and major site services, such as fire, patrol, security and other common services. He subsequently was named vice president and general manager of Rockwell’s Hanford Operations.

Lorenzini joined PacifiCorp, an electric utility company in Portland, Oregon, where he spent more than a decade in executive management, including as president of Pacific Power & Light; chief executive officer, PacifiCorp Turkey; and chief executive officer, Powercor Australia. 

Lorenzini co-founded NuScale Power and served as its CEO until 2012. 

As Portland General Electric’s senior vice president, Bill Nicholson, nuclear engineering ’80, oversees customer service operations, strategy and business customer development, and transmission and distribution operations services.

Nicholson previously served as vice president of distribution operations and two years as vice president of customers and economic development. Nicholson joined PGE in 1980 as an engineer at the Trojan Nuclear Power Plant and has served in a variety of capacities in distribution operations and generation engineering.

Nicholson has served on the boards of a number of community organizations, including current service on the boards of Associated Oregon Industries, Oregon BEST, and the board of regents for the Museum at Warm Springs.

A registered professional engineer, Nicholson belongs to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the National Society of Professional Engineers.

Nicholson completed the Harvard University Program on Negotiation, the Utility Executive program from the University of Idaho and the American Leadership Forum, where he serves as a senior fellow.

Nicholson and his wife, Kathy, live in Northwest Portland.

Brian Woods is the Henry W. and Janice J. Schuette Endowed Chair in Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Health Physics and head of the School of Nuclear Science and Engineering in the College of Engineering at Oregon State University. He earned his Ph.D. and M.S. in nuclear engineering from the University of Maryland, and a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Virginia. 

He has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in nuclear reactor thermal-hydraulics, nuclear systems design, fluid mechanics, neutronics, and plasma physics. His areas of interest include experimental fluid dynamics, nuclear reactor thermal-hydraulics, and nuclear reactor safety.

Woods worked as an engineer within the Office of Environmental Restoration at the Department of Energy, as well as serving in the Navy for four years as a diver. Before his arrival at Oregon State in 2003, he worked as a nuclear safety analyst at Dominion Energy’s Innsbrook Technical Center outside Richmond, Virginia.