Graduate student explores the entrepreneurial side of nuclear innovation

Graduate student Isabella Wood spent part of her summer in Sydney, Australia attending the 2025 Nuclear Innovation Bootcamp (NIB2025). This two-week immersive program gathers grad students and young professionals to explore the entrepreneurial side of nuclear innovation. 

For Wood, the bootcamp offered a unique opportunity to consider the long-term goals of her research—namely, deployment—and what it may take to bring her research to market.  

“It’s good to not only have a concept of whether something works technically, but also whether it can be marketed and whether investors would be interested in it,” Wood says. 

Wood is a second-year PhD student in the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics at UW–Madison. She conducts research in the Reactor Technology Integration Group led by Assistant Professor Ben Lindley. Her work examines how different engineering decisions and reactor core geometries affect metrics like power output, efficiency, and versatility. 

NIB2025 featured lectures from experts in the nuclear industry and beyond, covering topics such as long-term market forecasting and financial modeling. At the end of the program, students applied what they learned through a group business pitch. Each team selected a nuclear innovation, developed a business model, and pitched to a panel of experts. The exercise challenged participants to focus on the market demand for their engineered product, not just the technical basis.

Wood also appreciated the opportunity to connect with students from around the world. Because nuclear legislation varies from country to country, Wood found it interesting to hear how her peers experience the nuclear industry in their respective regions. 

Australia, for instance, has a legal ban on nuclear energy—but it is also the third largest exporter of uranium and a major exporter of medical isotopes. During the bootcamp, students toured the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) medical isotope facility, which Wood described as one of the major highlights of the trip. 

Wood recommends the program to all students—not just those interested in entrepreneurship or industry—noting that the bootcamp helps develop a skill for assessing and communicating the market relevance of any idea.

“There are a lot of cool innovations you can come up with that may be interesting, but at the end of the day, the goal is that they can be implemented.”

Applications for NIB2026 open on January 1, 2026.

Feature photo credit: Mya Zepp