MSU mechanical engineering senior selected as international scholarship recipient

Andy Buchanan

STARKVILLE, Miss.— A Mississippi mechanical engineering senior has been named a recipient of the 2026 Roy G. Post Foundation Scholarship, a prestigious award recognizing academic excellence and leadership in engineering.

Andy Buchanan of Saltillo was selected for this highly competitive scholarship, recognizing outstanding undergraduate and graduate students worldwide. He said he is grateful for the recognition, mentorship, and research opportunities he has received during his time at MSU.

“I feel so incredibly grateful to receive this scholarship,” Buchanan said. “When I started at MSU, I never imagined that I would be involved in research at this level or be recognized in this way. I’m grateful to Dr. Qingqing Liu for the opportunity to work in his lab and to share my research with professionals around the world.”

The Roy G. Post Foundation recognizes a select group of engineering students who demonstrate strong academic performance, professional promise, and a commitment to advancing the engineering profession. In addition to a $5,000 award, recipients are invited to present their research at an international conference.

As part of the scholarship, Buchanan will present his research in March at the 2026 Waste Management Symposia in Phoenix, Arizona. His poster, titled “Investigation of the Effects of Non-Condensable Gas on Molten Salt Heat Transfer to Support MSR Development,” examines how tiny gas bubbles affect the movement of heat in molten salt within molten salt reactors. Understanding how heat behaves inside these systems is critical to improving reactor safety and efficiency.

“Molten salt reactors have the potential to change how we think about nuclear energy,” Buchanan said. “By better understanding how heat and gas behave inside these systems, we can help make future reactors more efficient and safer to operate.”