Faculty & Staff
Real-world experience, technical expertise, and a passion for workforce development in every classroom.
Dr. Paul Nims, Ph.D., CSP, CHST
Founder and Lead Professor
About the Founder Dr. Paul Nims, CSP, CHST leads the efforts at the Atomic Technical Institute (ATI). He brings over 17 years of experience in occupational safety, industrial hygiene, health physics (radiation protection), and risk management across private industry, construction, manufacturing, utilities, and Department of Energy (DOE) environments. Dr Nims is also a full time professor at Columbia Southern University teaching multiple classes and serves as a doctoral chair.
Mrs. Aricia Nims
Registrar and Director of Administration
Mr. Ben Geppert
Business and Training Affairs Consultant
Long-time Hanford and DOE-connected professional with 20+ years in training leadership, work control, human performance, and operational improvement. Nuclear Navy veteran and former owner of EnergX LLC, which was instrumental to regional Hanford training in the early 2000s and where many Hanford workers, including Dr. Nims, received their training. Later served as Program Manager at Mission Support Alliance / HAMMER Federal Training Center with oversight of Electrical Training, HAZCOM, and Conduct of Operations. Worked with the DOE Training Institute on complex-wide programs in Safety Culture and Worker Safety and Health, deployed Mobile Training Teams to DOE facilities, and developed OSHA-based courses for the DOE community. Today he supports DOE through conduct-of-operations consulting and third-party oversight work.
Mr. Craig Hill
Assistant Instructor, Nuclear Systems
Nuclear systems instructor bringing industry experience to hands-on classroom work.
Dalena Triplett
Safety Training & Compliance Instructor
Career safety leader whose focus shifted to occupational safety after a fatal jobsite event during her early career in carpentry. Owner and President of Compliance Alliance, Inc. since 2007, and an OSHA OTI Education Center Instructor through the University of Washington since 2013. Former General Contractor Regional Safety Risk Manager across the Western Region (CA, WA, NV, CO, AZ), with deep experience in multi-million-dollar construction project safety, workers compensation programs, and contractor safety program development. Currently at Amteum, delivering safety leadership workshops, Human Performance Improvement (HPI), and frontline employee training.
Mr. Pete Wells
Safety Training & Compliance Instructor
Nuclear Navy veteran (Master Chief) with extensive field and instructional experience. Part-time Technical Training Instructor at the DOE National Training Center through both IB3 Global Solutions and Sargent & Lundy, teaching instructional designer and instructor fundamentals across Richland, WA and Albuquerque, NM. Former President of Wells Technical and Safety. Brings a field-tested, operations-first perspective to ATI safety and compliance courses.