Nathan Cassingham

My Name is Nathan Cassingham. I originally come from Seattle, WA in the USA. After my Bachelors degree in Materials Science and Engineering with a Minor in Glass Science and Engineering from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, I decided to come to Sheffield in 2004 because it is well known in the glass industry for its research.

During my stint as an undergraduate at Alfred University I had several placements at Pacific Northwest National Laboratories (PNNL) performing research on nuclear waste glass vitrification and also an international placement in Germany performing research on high temperature mass spectrometry of glass melts. Because of my interest in the nuclear waste glasses, and the well known education at the University of Sheffield in the Department of Engineering Materials I decided to attended the MSc(ENG) course in Waste Immobilisation. The course provided me with an opportunity to continue in research while also gaining a more in depth understanding of the basic principles of the sciences needed in the field of nuclear waste vitrification and basic glass melting. The focus of the Waste Immobilisation course was on aspects such as nuclear waste treatment, where the waste is produced and current issues associated with the nuclear industry today. With my knowledge of waste vitrification from PNNL I knew I wanted to continue my research in high level waste glass vitrification.