About The Member

Dr. Samit K. Bhattacharyya is President of RENMAR Enterprises, Inc, a Technical and Management Consulting Services Company. The company serves a broad portfolio of government and private sector clients in the area of advanced nuclear technology and applications. He has been a long time Advisor to NASA on its Space Nuclear power and propulsion activities, and to the USDOE on several projects.

Bhattacharyya was born in India, where he did his schooling through his undergraduate work, receiving a B. Tech (honors) degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur. He came to the US for his graduate work and obtained master’s and doctoral degrees in Nuclear Engineering at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

Bhattacharyya joined Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) in Argonne, Illinois immediately after completing his Ph.D. work. He research work at ANL focused on advanced nuclear reactor technologies. He rose to the position of senior nuclear engineer and held several executive leadership positions in the Laboratory, including a five-year stint as director of the Technology Development Division. The division was a diversified organization with several technical programs, including advanced reactors, nuclear non-proliferation, nuclear fusion and fuel cycle assessments. One of his major accomplishments was the development of several significant new R&D programs for the Laboratory. He achieved international recognition for his technical work in advanced nuclear power systems for terrestrial and space applications. He has published widely (over 200 publications) and participated in national and international conferences as organizer, speaker and keynote presenter. During this period, he also earned a master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Chicago as well as the Professional Engineer registration.

Bhattacharyya left ANL in 2003 to operate RENMAR Enterprises, Inc. A highlight of his work was as the nuclear lead and one of the identified Key personnel for the Northrop Grumman team that won the major NASA contract (Project Prometheus) on the development of a nuclear powered probe to the moons of Jupiter. Bhattacharyya was recruited in 2007 to join the Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC team that bid for and won the operating contract for the DOE’s Savannah River Site. Bhattacharyya was one of the two Key personnel required in that proposal, and assumed the directorship of the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) located at the Savannah River Site. SRNL is one of DOE’s twelve National Laboratories, and is the Corporate Laboratory of the DOE’s Environmental Management Office. In this position, Bhattacharyya was responsible for the management, operations and planned growth of the Laboratory. The Laboratory had ~ 1000 employees and conducted R&D on a diversified portfolio of projects in the Environmental Management, National Security and Energy Security areas. Bhattacharyya served as Laboratory Director for two years, after which he returned to running RENMAR Enterprises.

Dr. Bhattacharyya is a fellow of the American Nuclear Society and has won a number of Awards for his work. These include the University of Chicago Distinguished Performance Award, the University of Wisconsin College of Engineering Distinguished Achievement Award, and the Indian Institute of Technology (Kharagpur) Distinguished Alumnus Award. He has served on several Department of Energy, Department of Defense, NASA and University advisory boards. He also serves on a number of technical, corporate and civic boards.