Mines Student Heads Across the World to Study in Tokyo

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – John Wonka’s path to nuclear engineering was not a linear one.

He went from high school science classes and competitive pools in Wyoming and North Carolina to cutting-edge research at the Rapid City School of Mines and Technology and now to exploring fusion energy in Japan.

Wonka, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering at Mines, has been accepted into the nuclear engineering graduate program at the University of Tokyo. His acceptance follows his participation last summer in the University of Tokyo’s Research Internship Program (UTRIP), a highly competitive program in which he was one of 14 students worldwide chosen from more than 1,100 applicants.

He is originally from Buffalo, Wyoming. He initially had a different career path in mind. After graduating high school, he pursued competitive swimming on scholarship at a private college in North Carolina and planned to study theater arts. After a semester, he realized his long-term interests lay elsewhere, and he returned home to a community college before finding a home at Mines.

“I prepped all through high school to do engineering but had a last-minute decision that I wanted to swim,” Wonka said.

“I am so glad I took the opportunity to come to Mines. It has been such a great decision,” Wonka said. “My mechanical program and faculty have been amazing.”

At Mines, Wonka immersed himself in research and internships focusing on plasma physics and nuclear technologies under the guidance of Sonya Dick, an assistant professor in the Leslie A. Rose Department of Mechanical Engineering. His undergraduate research examines hydrodynamic instabilities in high-energy density plasmas, work directly tied to inertial confinement fusion, a promising pathway toward carbon-free energy and long-term energy security.

That research experience helped open the door to Tokyo. During his summer internship, Wonka conducted astrophysics-related plasma research alongside leading Japanese scientists, gaining international research experience that solidified his desire to pursue graduate study abroad.

Wonka will graduate from Mines in May and begin his graduate program in Tokyo in October. Right now, his long-term goal is to work in nuclear energy technologies, a field he believes will be game-changing in the near future.

Wonka credits the Mines faculty and the emphasis on exploration as the catalyst for him to look beyond the borders of the United States to expand his education.

“One of the big driving things was the push for internships,” he said. “I loved going to career fairs and meeting with people, learning engineering in the commercial and career settings. The internships and working with companies really opened my eyes to the opportunities that arise from a school that pushes you to do stuff like that.”

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