Jacopo Buongiorno is the Battelle Energy Alliance Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) within the School of Engineering. He earned a BS in nuclear engineering from the Polytechnic of Milan and a PhD in nuclear engineering from MIT in 2000, for which he received the American Nuclear Society Mark Mills Award for the best U.S. PhD thesis. Buongiorno joined the MIT faculty as an assistant professor in 2004 and has held various leadership roles, including Director of the Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems (CANES) and Director of Science and Technology at the MIT Nuclear Reactor Laboratory. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in thermo-fluids and nuclear reactor engineering.

His research specializes in nuclear reactor safety and design, two-phase flow and heat transfer, with applications to microreactors, floating nuclear power plants, techno-economic analysis of nuclear systems, nuclear safety, nano-technologies for nuclear reactors, and advanced experimental diagnostics for boiling heat transfer. Buongiorno has authored over 110 journal articles, including key publications such as “An economic analysis of the use of nuclear microreactors in hydrogen production” (Proc. ICAPP 2023), “Consequence-based security for microreactors” (Proc. ICAPP 2023), “A Central Facility Concept for Nuclear Microreactor Maintenance and Fuel Cycle Management” (Proc. ICAPP 2023), “Mechanistic prediction of wickability and CHF enhancement in micro- and nano-engineered surface” (NURETH-17, 2017), and “Experimental Study of Critical Heat Flux with Alumina-water Nanofluids in Downward-Facing Channels for In-Vessel Retention Applications” (NUTHOS-9, 2012), many earning best paper awards. He led the MIT study The Future of Nuclear Energy in a Carbon-Constrained World (2018) and consults for the nuclear industry. Buongiorno's contributions have earned him election to the National Academy of Engineering (2024), NURETH Fellow (2023), ANS Presidential Citation (2022), Fellow of the American Nuclear Society (2017), MIT MacVicar Faculty Fellowship (2014), and several teaching awards including the Ruth and Joel Spira Award (2006, 2011, 2015). He has served on the Naval Studies Board, DOE advisory boards, and participated in the Defense Science Study Group.

Professional Email: jacopo@mit.edu