Archive for 2017

SERIOUS GAMES & NUCLEAR WEAPONS POLICY

Want to help develop an online, multiplayer graphical computer game? We are constructing and executing a serious game to explore the impacts of nuclear weapons with alternate effect regimes on global nuclear stability. Come work across disciplines with us to create a videogame and improve our understanding of how potential future nuclear weapons characteristics impact conflict escalation dynamics.

Required:

• Experience working with a team on a large software project
• Experience with at least one of the following languages: C++/C#/Java

Highly Preferred:

• Game development experience using a game engine (for instance like Unity or the Unreal Engine)
• Experience developing and working with web applications frameworks (for instance: GRAILS/Django/Ruby on Rails)

Preferred:

• Experience with setting up and maintaining a web server
• Experience with managing a database server (such as MySQL)

Graduate Students Supplement your current research effort at 10 hours per week and earn extra cash. Positions will be made at a 25% GSR appointment with partial tuition and fee remission.

Undergraduates Design games, learn from experts, make money! The position is at $15 per hour at ~10 hours per week during the academic year and up to 40 hours per week during the summer.

To apply, submit a cover letter and CV to 

Bethany L. Goldblum, PhD (bethany@nuc.berkeley.edu)

Department of Nuclear Engineering, UC Berkeley

Director, Nuclear Policy Working Group

Congratulations to NSSC Fellow Daniel Hellfeld on winning 3rd place in student oral presentations at the IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference. Hellfeld was also the recipient of the 2017 Valentin T. Jordanov Radiation Instrumentation Travel Grant for this conference.

http://www.nss-mic.org/2017/Awards.asp

The Carnegie Foundation announced the awarding of 8 new grants to advance the field’s understanding of technology-driven challenges. 

One award went to a partnership between the University of California, Berkeley, and Sandia National Laboratory. NSSC Nuclear Security Policy Focus Area Lead, Prof. Michael Nacht will serve as the Principal Investigator. This research project will analyze the implications of using low-yield nuclear weapons through serious games that force national experts and university students to confront escalation dilemmas.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies, Inc., Washington, D.C. received funding to bring current and rising nuclear experts together to examine how recent advances in computer platforms, sensors and networks could affect situational awareness of decision-makers during crises between nuclear-armed states. The Nuclear Policy Working Group will be collaborating with CSIS for this project.