Stefano Terlizzi

Dr. Stefano Terlizzi's research focuses on the development of advanced computational methods for the modeling and simulation of nuclear microreactors and small modular reactors (SMRs), with applications spanning terrestrial, space, and national security missions. His work integrates reactor physics, multiphysics simulation, and uncertainty quantification to develop high-fidelity tools capable of predicting reactor behavior under normal and transient conditions. As the founder and director of the Computational Reactor Engineering and Analysis (CREA) group at Pennsylvania State University, Dr. Terlizzi has led and contributed to major modeling and simulation efforts for the U.S. Department of Energy, including high-fidelity simulations of the Microreactor Applications Research, Validation, and EvaLuation (MARVEL) reactor within the Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program. He has also served as technical lead in support of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, developing safety analysis methods for advanced non-light water reactors, and contributed to NASA's nuclear thermal propulsion modeling program for deep space exploration.

Current research in the CREA group spans several interconnected areas: the development of coupled neutronics and thermal hydraulics methods for high-fidelity transient analysis of heat-pipe cooled microreactors; uncertainty quantification and sensitivity analysis frameworks for advanced reactor systems; and the exploration of novel fuel lattice geometries, including bio-inspired triply periodic minimal surfaces, for ultra-compact reactor applications. The group maintains active collaborations with Idaho National Laboratory through Dr. Terlizzi's joint appointment, with ongoing work focused on digital twins and high-fidelity models for non-proliferation applications. To date, Dr. Terlizzi has managed over $2M in research funding and authored or co-authored more than 40 peer-reviewed publications in reactor physics, multiphysics simulation, and microreactor technologies.