In 2021, the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia formed a partnership, dubbed AUKUS, which will allow the Royal Australian Navy to purchase several nuclear-powered submarines in an effort to modernize their fleet. Building a nuclear submarine program from scratch is anything but easy, but when they set out to do so, the Australian navy knew exactly who to turn to for expertise. Shortly after the announcement, Australian Vice Admiral Jonathan Mead in an interview suggested sending staff to MIT. That offhand comment eventually found its way to Jacopo Buongiorno, professor of…
