ISE - Our Team
Dr. J. Bryce Taylor
B.A., B.S., Ph.D.
CTO- Chief Technical Officer
A graduate of Dartmouth College (B.A. 1994, Philosophy) and The Pennsylvania State University (B.S. 2000, Physics; Ph.D. 2007, Nuclear Engineering), Dr. J. Bryce Taylor is Chief Engineer and a founding member of ISE, providing his scientific and technical expertise in the development and application of ISE's computational tools for radiation analysis. Dr. Taylor is a member of the American Nuclear Society and the Association of Energy Engineers.
The goal of protecting space crews and missions from the dangers of space radiation has much in common with design and analysis for nuclear reactor safety - Dr. Taylor's focus before joining ISE. Many of the concepts that are fundamental to the ISE approach to radiation protection - such as As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) and Defence-in-Depth - originated in the early days of nuclear power. In addition to his scientific expertise in the analysis of radiation, Dr. Taylor brings to ISE his knowledge and experience with best practices in a corporate "safety culture" - one of the lasting legacies of the nuclear industry - that will be invaluable to development of an effective safety culture in the emerging commercial space market.
Nuclear engineering and space mission planning also share an intrinsic need for accurate and efficient computational simulations that support design and mission planning for high radiation environments. Dr. Taylor has worked extensively with the design, development, and application of computer codes that are a critical component of nuclear reactor safety analysis. This includes the development of a novel method for computational neutron transport in reactor physics simulations and its implementation into the prototype MOCK-3D reactor kinetics code. Dr. Taylor also has experience with the design and application of fast real-time simulators of reactor physics phenomena and commercial safety analysis codes that simulate thermal-hydraulic effects in commercial power reactors. For nearly a decade, Dr. Taylor provided support for the TRAC User's Group, an international consortium of utilities, regulators, and researchers who utilize the long-time state-of-the-art TRAC-BF1 and TRAC-PF1 analysis codes that are used commercially to simulate severe accident scenarios as part of the reactor licensing process.
In addition to his work as an engineer, Dr. Taylor has more than a decade of experience in public service, working with municipal, state, and federal agencies and officials on a variety of public projects in Centre County, Pennsylvania. He currently serves on the board of the Mid-Centre County Authority, a municipal authority that oversees operation of a sewer system in Centre County, and is Vice President of the Milesburg, Pennsylvania chapter of the International Lions Clubs.