Grace Stanke
CORE DESIGN ENGINEER, CONSTELLATION ENERGY
MISS AMERICA, FORBES 30 UNDER 30, and “The New Face of Nuclear Energy” are just a few titles this Wisconsin native boasts. After a whirlwind year of travels fulfilling her Miss America 2023 duties, Grace Stanke arrived on the East Coast for the next step in her impressive career—working at the largest producer of carbon-free energy in the nation, Constellation Energy.
“Honestly, getting my nuclear engineering degree and building the career that I have right now are my proudest accomplishments,” Stanke said. “It’s great to be able to talk about nuclear on a public-facing front while also continuing to maintain technical knowledge through my engineering degree and core design position as I continue to advocate.”
Stanke was exposed to engineering at an early age. “My dad was a civil engineer, so he would take us to construction sites,” she said, sharing that they would watch bridges get demoed overnight. “I really loved seeing him use math and science in a practical way—it was cool to see that real world application growing up.”
Her father also inspired her nuclear engineering career—unintentionally. In an Instagram post, Stanke shared that her father’s order of “don’t go into nuclear engineering” drove her defiant 16-year-old self to pursue exactly that major.
“Biggest thing is you’re going to hear the word ‘no,’ but that doesn’t always mean that that’s the final answer.”
Grace Stanke
“Nuclear and hydroelectric really should build up about 70 percent of our energy sources,” Stanke said, adding that she’s all for renewables in locations where they make sense. “I’m from Wisconsin, so we don’t see the sun for most of the year—it’s not enough to power our homes when it’s negative 40 out, and we need that heat to be running.”
While Stanke feels that public perception of nuclear energy is one that’s changed drastically in the past five years, she still believes there’s a long way to go. “An overwhelming public demand” is what she deems necessary for building up toward the nuclear construction and expansion needed to support the energy grid here in America.
“All it takes is starting that conversation. It’s sitting down and maybe presenting back at your local high school that you graduated from,” Stanke said. “Going into their science, their physics, their chemistry class, their geology class—whatever it might be—and talking about what you do as an engineer.”
Stanke finds being open and honest and vulnerable to be a terrifying thing, but also exciting and rewarding in the end as well.
To hear a complete discussion with Stanke, listen to her interview on this episode of ASME TechCast.
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