Matt Ellis, Sam Shaner: Powered by idealism and pragmatism

When they first met as graduate students in 2012, Samuel C. Shaner SM ’14, PhD ’18 and Mathew S. Ellis PhD ’17 realized they shared a common passion.

“Sam was one year ahead of me, and as my official buddy during orientation weekend, he took me to the MIT Energy Conference,” recalls Ellis. “That first night, we began sharing ideas about what we wanted to see happen in the nuclear industry.” Adds Shaner, “We were both really interested in the innovative side of the industry and doing something entrepreneurial with nuclear reactor development.”