Ryder Belgarde

Ryder Belgarde is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, working as a graduate researcher in the Thermal Hydraulics Laboratory under Dr. Mark Anderson.  Ryder’s research relates to studying thermal fluid fluctuations in Sodium Fast Reactor (SFR) nuclear cores and how those can transfer and potentially damage the containment structures. He is designing a scaled experiment that will simulate the reactor conditions, using molten sodium to be able to help qualify a SFR that is being built in Wyoming by TerraPower. Ryder received a B.S. in Mech. Engineering from North Dakota State University in 2021, and a Masters in Science from UW-Madison in 2023. He has a strong interest in energy policy and how to include nuclear energy with other sustainable sources of energy.