Brian LaBombard | MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center

September 24, 2021

VIDEO: Highlights of the MIT-CFS 20T Magnet Demo event

On Sunday, September 5, 2021, a large-bore, high temperature superconducting magnet designed and built by CFS and MIT reached a field of 20 tesla. It paves the way to building SPARC and commercializing fusion energy. These are highlights from the Live-Streamed 20 Tesla HTS Magnet Demo Event

September 8, 2021

VIDEO: Unlocking SPARC: HTS Magnet for Commercial Fusion Applications

An animation of how the high temperature superconducting (HTS) fusion magnet built by MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC) and Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS)was tested. Reaching a field of 20 tesla, it is the most powerful superconducting magnet in the world and a key technology in SPARC, a compact, high-field tokamak that will produce net energy from fusion.

September 8, 2021

VIDEO: A Star in a Bottle: The Quest for Commercial Fusion

On Sept. 5, 2021, for the first time, a large high-temperature superconducting electromagnet was ramped up to a field strength of 20 tesla, the most powerful magnetic field of its kind ever created on Earth. That successful demonstration by the PSFC and CFS helps resolve the greatest uncertainty in the quest to build the world’s first fusion power plant that can produce more power than it consumes.

September 7, 2021

MIT-designed magnet is a major advance toward fusion energy

New superconducting magnet breaks magnetic field strength records, paving the way for practical, commercial, carbon-free power.

MIT News

July 9, 2021

Magnet Man

After overseeing three years of research and development, Brian LaBombard is ready to test a toroidal field model coil (TFMC), a prototype for those that will be used in the new fusion experiment, SPARC.

PSFC News

July 2, 2021

Emvolon raises $1.5 million seed funding to evolve distributed chemical production

Emvolon, cofounded by PSFC Principal Research Scientist Leslie Bromberg, will explore converting wasted natural gas at flare sites into usable chemicals for use industrial applications or as a fuel.

The Engine

Portrait of Theo Mouratidis standing in front of young birch trees on the MIT campus.

May 3, 2021

Theo Mouratidis: Going to extremes

When he entered the Museo Galieo, Theo Mouratidis was not expecting to make a life-changing decision.

PSFC News

September 29, 2020

Validating the physics behind SPARC

This series of papers provides a high level of confidence in the plasma physics and the performance predictions for SPARC. No unexpected impediments or surprises have shown up, and the remaining challenges appear to be manageable. This sets a solid basis for the device’s operation once constructed, according to Martin Greenwald, Deputy Director of MIT PSFC.

MIT News