LUTHER W MCDONALD, IV portrait
  • Associate Professor, Civil And Environmental Engin
  • Assistant Professor, Civil And Environmental Engin
801-581-7768

Current Courses

Fall 2024

  • CHEM 3200-090
    Radiochemistry I
  • NUCL 3200-090
    Radiochemistry I
  • NUCL 4900-001
    Independent Research

Summer 2024

Spring 2024

Professional Organizations

  • Institute of Nuclear Materials Management. 08/01/2014 - present. Position : Member.
  • American Chemical Society. 08/01/2009 - present. Position : Member.

Courses I Teach

  • NUCL 3000 - Nuclear Principles in Science and Engineering
    This is the introductory course to undergraduate nuclear engineering students. This course introduces the concepts of radioactivity, health physics, and reactor physics.
  • NUCL 3200 - Undergraduate Radiochemistry
    This course extensively covers the fundamental models of the atom leading the students to a basic science understanding of the transformation of unstable nuclei, characteristics of radiation emitted during radioactive decay, mechanisms of the transformation and their kinetics, interaction of radiation with matter, and the detection of radiation.
  • NUCL 5920 - Introduction to Nuclear Forensics
    This special topics course is sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security to educate students on fundamental processes in nuclear forensics. It is an intensive 6-week course with a competitive admission of 12 students from across the U.S. Topic covered include radioactive decay kinetics, radiation interactions, radiation detection, radiochemical separations, nuclear weapon design, and plutonium production.
  • NUCL 6032 - Graduate Radiochemistry
    This graduate course educates students on the fundamental chemistry of the f-elements. Specifically exploring the chemistry at each stage of the nuclear fuel cycle beginning with the mining of uranium ores to radiolysis during power production and concluding with the storage of spent nuclear fuel.
  • NUCL 7110 - Nuclear Environmental Engineering
    This graduate course educates students on the treatment of nuclear waste and the development of engineered barriers to reduce the migration of radionuclides in the environment.
  • NUCL 7220 - Analytical Nuclear Forensics
    This graduate course educates students on forensic sample collection, chemical processing (separation and purification), destructive and non-destructive analysis techniques, and statistical data analysis.