Photo of Stefano Terlizzi

Stefano Terlizzi

J. Brennan Early Career Professor

Affiliation(s):

  • Nuclear Engineering
    •

sbt5572@psu.edu

814-863-6222

 
 

 

Bio

Dr. Stefano Terlizzi is the John and Jean M. Brennan Clean Energy Early Career Professor at Pennsylvania State University (PSU). Prior to joining PSU, he was a staff scientist at Idaho National Laboratory (INL), where he led multiple projects on advanced reactor analysis and the development of analytical tools supporting agencies such as the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), NASA, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

He holds a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, as well as a B.S. and M.S. in energy engineering and energy & nuclear engineering, respectively, from the Polytechnic University of Turin. Dr. Terlizzi previously served as the INL Deslonde De Boisblanc Distinguished Postdoctoral Research Associate and was a fellow in the Georgia Tech Sam Nunn Security Program.

Education

  • B.S., Energy Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, 2013
  • M.S., Energy and Nuclear Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, 2015
  • PhD, Nuclear Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2020

Publications

Journal Articles

  • Nelson Snow, Sweet Shanahan, Quinton Williams, Ishita Trivedi, Emerald Ryan, Stefano Terlizzi, Camille Palmer and Ryan Stewart, 2025, "Preliminary Studies on Diversion and Misuse for Triso-Fueled Heat-Pipe-Cooled Microreactors", Annals of Nuclear Energy, 217, (111309)
  • Emerald D Ryan, Ishita Trivedi, Stefano Terlizzi, Ashley Shields, Mark Schanfein, Gustavo Reyes and Ryan Stewart, 2024, "Challenges and Technology-Driven Opportunities for Safeguarding Microreactors", Nuclear Science and Engineering
  • Stefano Terlizzi, Laboure and Vincent, 2023, "Asymptotic hydrogen redistribution analysis in yttrium-hydride-moderated heat-pipe-cooled microreactors using DireWolf", Annals of Nuclear Energy, 186, pp. 109735
  • Vincent Laboure, Sebastian Schunert, Stefano Terlizzi, Zachary Prince, Javier Ortensi, Ching-Shen Lin, Lise Charlot and Mark DeHart, 2023, "Automated Power-Following Control for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Startup and Shutdown Using Moose-Based Applications", Annals of Nuclear Energy, 161, pp. 104710
  • Guillaume L Giudicelli, Abdalla Abou-Jaoude, April J Novak, Ahmed Abdelhameed, Paolo Balestra, Lise Charlot, Jun Fang, Bo Feng, Thomas Folk, Ramiro Freile, Stefano Terlizzi and other, 2023, "The virtual test bed (VTB) repository: a library of reference reactor models using NEAMS tools", Nuclear Science and Engineering, 197, (8), pp. 2217--2233
  • Stefano Terlizzi and Dan Kotlyar, 2022, "A perturbation-based acceleration for Monte Carlo--Thermal Hydraulics Picard iterations. Part II: Application to 3D PWR-based problems", Annals of Nuclear Energy, 166, pp. 108713
  • Stefano Terlizzi and Dan Kotlyar, 2022, "A perturbation-based acceleration for Monte Carlo – Thermal Hydraulics Picard iterations. Part I: Theory and application to extruded BWR unit-cell.", Annals of Nuclear Energy, 167, pp. 108756
  • Naiki Kaffezakis, Stefano Terlizzi, Corey Smith, Anna S Erickson, Shannon K Yee and Dan Kotlyar, 2020, "High temperature ultra-small modular reactor: Pre-conceptual design", Annals of Nuclear Energy, 141, pp. 107311
  • Andrew E Johnson, Dan Kotlyar, Stefano Terlizzi and Gavin Ridley, 2020, "serpentTools: A python package for expediting analysis with serpent", Nuclear Science and Engineering, 194, (11), pp. 1016--1024
  • Stefano Terlizzi and Dan Kotlyar, 2019, "Fission matrix decomposition method for criticality calculations: Theory and proof of concept", Nuclear Science and Engineering, 193, (9), pp. 948--965
  • Isaac Naupa Aguirre, Samuel Garcia, Ben Lindley, Stefano Terlizzi and Dan Kotlyar, , "Validation and Verification of Serpent-Griffin Computational Sequence Using the SNAP 8 Experimental Reactor Dry Experiments", Nuclear Science and Engineering

Conference Proceedings

  • Isaac Naupa Aguirre, Stefano Terlizzi and Mark DeHart, 2025, "Serpent - BISON - THM Preliminary Multiphysics Modeling of a Nuclear Thermal Propulsion System Fuel Assembly"
  • Guillaume Giudicelli, Fande Kong, Roy Stogner, Logan Harbour, Derek Gaston, Stefano Terlizzi and Zachary Prince, 2024, "Data transfers for full core heterogeneous reactor high-fidelity multiphysics studies", 302, pp. 05006
  • Stefano Terlizzi and Ishita Trivedi, 2024, "Progress toward the development of a high-fidelity neutronic model of MARVEL using Griffin", pp. 2554--2560
  • Farha Farhana, Joshua Hanophy, Brendan Kochunas, Sebastian Schunert and Stefano Terlizzi, 2024, "Proof-of-Concept for Sensor Modeling in MOOSE for the Design of Autonomous Nuclear Reactor Control", Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, American Nuclear Society, 131, (1), pp. 322--325
  • Sweet Shanahan, Nelson Snow, Quinton Williams, Camille Palmer, Stefano Terlizzi, Ishita Trivedi and Ryan Stewart, 2024, "Select Proliferation Studies on TRISO-fueled, Heat-Pipe-cooled Microreactors", Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, American Nuclear Society, 131, (1), pp. 841--844
  • Lise Charlot, Emily Shemon, Guillaume Giudicelli, Samuel Walker, Jun Fang, Tingzhou Fei, Hansol Park, Yiqi Yu, Shikhar Kumar, Nicolas Stauff, Ahmed Abdelhameed, Paolo Balestra, Mustafa Jaradat, Namjae Choi, Javier Ortensi, Vasileios Kyriakopoulos, Mauricio Tano Retamales, Stefano Terlizzi, Joshua Hansel, Vincent Laboure and Abdalla Abou-Jaoude, 2024, "Status of New Models Hosted on the Virtual Test Bed (VTB) in 2024", Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, American Nuclear Society, 131, (1), pp. 1072--1075
  • Bailey Painter, Dan Kotlyar and Stefano Terlizzi, 2023, "Preliminary Monte Carlo and Thermal Hydraulic Analysis using a Hybrid ETF-Corrected-Diffusion Prediction Block"
  • Isaac Naupa Aguirre, Sam Garcia, Ben Lindley, Stefano Terlizzi, Abdalla Abou Jaoude and Dan Kotlyar, 2023, "Verification of the Serpent-Griffin Workflow using the SNAP 8 Experimental Reactor", (INL/CON-22-69994-Rev001)
  • Vincent M Laboure, Stefano Terlizzi and Sebastian Schunert, 2023, "Hybrid Temperature-Reactivity PID Controllers for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Startup", Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States), pp. 38-43
  • Quentin David Faure, Vincent M Laboure and Stefano Terlizzi, 2023, "Preliminary Results for Uncertainty Quantification on Asymptotic Hydrogen Redistribution in a Prototypical Yttrium-Hydride Moderated Heat-Pipe-Cooled Microreactor", ANS Transactions, Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States), 129, (1), pp. 447-450
  • Bailey Painter, Stefano Terlizzi and Dan. Kotlyar, 2022, "Accelerated Coupled Monte Carlo-Thermal Hydraulic Calculations using a Hybrid GTF-Diffusion-based Prediction Block: First Results"
  • Stefano Terlizzi, Vincent Laboure and Dehart Mark, 2022, "Preliminary Observations on the Hydrogen Redistribution Feedback in YH-Moderated Monolithic Microreactors"
  • Stefano Terlizzi, Labour\'e, Vincent and Mark DeHart, 2022, "Selected results from full-core hydrogen redistribution asymptotic analysis in YH-moderated heat-pipe cooled microreactor"
  • Noah Higgins, Sebastian Schunert, Stefano Terlizzi, Ching-Sheng Lin, Vincent Laboure and Mark DeHart, 2021, "Modelling Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Reactor Startup Transients"
  • Stefano Terlizzi and D Kotlyar, 2020, "ON THE FLY PREDICTION OF TH-DEPENDENT SPATIAL MACROSCOPIC CROSS-SECTIONS USING FFT", EPJ Web of Conferences
  • Stefano Terlizzi and D Kotlyar, 2019, "VERIFICATION OF THE FISSION MATRIX DECOMPOSITION METHOD AGAINST TWO AXIALLY HETEROGENEOUS PROBLEMS"
  • Stefano Terlizzi and D Kotlyar, 2018, "Non-Ideal Convergence of the Fission Matrix Fundamental Eigen-Pair in Monte Carlo Calculations", pp. 22--26
  • Stefano Terlizzi, Sandra Dulla, Piero Ravetto, Farzad Rahnema and Dingkang Zhang, 2015, "Development of a hybrid deterministic/stochastic method for 1D nuclear reactor kinetics", 1702, (1)

Other

  • Stefano Terlizzi and Lise Charlot, 2024, "Towards a NEAMS-based high-fidelity model of the MARVEL reactor"
  • Javier Ortensi, Mustafa Kamel Mohammad Jaradat, Joshua E Hansel and Stefano Terlizzi, 2024, "The Monolithic Heat Pipe Microreactor Reference Plant Model", https://www.osti.gov/biblio/2356755, (INL/RPT-24-77914-Rev000)
  • Stefano Terlizzi, Ishita Trivedi and Ryan Stewart, 2024, "High-Fidelity Neutronics Model of a Realistic Heat Pipe Microreactor Report", (INL/RPT-24-77853-Rev000)
  • Namjae Choi, Mustafa Kamel Mohammad Jaradat, Vincent Laboure, Stefano Terlizzi and Jason Albert Christensen, 2024, "Advancements in Multiphysics Microdepletion Analysis of an eVinciTM-like Microreactor Leveraging OpenMC-CRAB Workflow"
  • Namjae Choi, Stefano Terlizzi, Yaqi Wang, Hansol Park, Chang-ho Lee and Javier Ortensi, 2024, "Investigation of Ring-heterogeneous Geometry Approximation for Efficient and Practical SFR Analysis"
  • Stefano Terlizzi, Namjae Choi, Jackson R Harter, Ishita Trivedi, Travis Mui and Javier Ortensi, 2024, "Sodium-cooled fast reactor reference plant model"
  • Patrick Behne, Mustafa Jaradat, Namjae Choi, Stefano Terlizzi and Vincent Laboure, 2023, "Development of a BlueCRAB/MELCOR Framework for Supporting Realistic Mechanistic Source Term Calculations in Microreactors", https://inldigitallibrary.inl.gov/sites/sti/sti/Sort\_68513.pdf, (INL/RPT-23-74793)
  • Jason Albert Christensen, Patrick Alan Behne, Mustafa Kamel Mohammad Jaradat, Abdalla Abou Jaoude, Vincent M Laboure and Stefano Terlizzi, 2023, "Development of a CRAB-MELCOR Framework for Utilization in Support of Estimating a Realistic Mechanistic Source Term for Microreactors"
  • Javier Ortensi, Cole M Mueller, Stefano Terlizzi, Guillaume Louis Giudicelli and Sebastian Schunert, 2023, "Fluoride-cooled high-temperature pebble-bed reactor reference plant model"
  • Vincent M Laboure, Sebastian Schunert, Stefano Terlizzi, Zachary M Prince, Javier Ortensi, Ching-Sheng Lin, Lise Cecile Madeleine Charlot and Mark D DeHart, 2022, "Automated Control for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Start-Up using MOOSE-based Applications"
  • Stefano Terlizzi, Guillaume Louis Giudicelli, Paolo Balestra, Alexander D Lindsay, Javier Ortensi and Cole Michael Mueller, 2021, "NRC Multiphysics Analysis Capability Deployment FY2021-Part 3"
  • Farzad Rahnema, Bojan Petrovic, Christopher Edgar, Dingkang Zhang, Pietro Avigni, Michael Huang and Stefano Terlizzi, 2015, "The Current Status of the Tools for Modeling and Simulation of Advanced High Temperature Reactor Neutronics Analysis"

Research Projects

Honors and Awards

  • Deslonde de Boisblanc Distinguished Postdoctoral Appointment, Idaho National Laboratory, February 2021 - February 2022
  • Sam Nunn Security Program Fellowship, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, 2018 - 2019
  • John J. and Jean M. Brennan Clean Energy Early Career Professorship, July 2024

Service

Service to Penn State:

  • Assessment Activities, Member, Radiation Science and Engineering Center (RSEC), Penn State Reactor Safeguards Committee (PSRSC), January 2025 - January 2028

Service to External Organizations:

 


 

About

The Ken and Mary Alice Lindquist Department of Nuclear Engineering at Penn State is one of the top ranked nuclear engineering programs in the United States. The department distinguishes itself with a strong focus on experimental research. The actively growing department leads four educational programs for students pursuing a bachelor of science, a master of science, a master of engineering, or a doctoral degree. The Radiation Science and Engineering Center (RSEC) facilities, including the Breazeale Reactor, are available to nuclear engineering faculty and students at Penn State for research and instruction. RSEC houses the Breazeale Nuclear Reactor, the country’s first and longest operating licensed nuclear research reactor. Having access to an operating research reactor is a key strength for the department and enables Penn State to harness research and educational opportunities that are unique in the United States. See how we’re inspiring change and impacting tomorrow at nuce.psu.edu.

Department of Nuclear Engineering

206 Hallowell Building

The Pennsylvania State University

University Park, PA 16802-4400

Phone: 814-863-6222