NEWS: Magnetic fusion energy

David Fischer, MIT

October 20, 2020

Pushing the envelope with fusion magnets

Postdoctoral associate David Fischer's research focuses on observing ways irradiation damages the thin high-temperature superconductor tapes in the design of ARC, a fusion pilot plant concept.

PSFC

VIPER cable assembly, MIT

October 7, 2020

Superconductor technology for smaller, sooner fusion

A team led by MIT’s PSFC and MIT spinout company Commonwealth Fusion Systems, has developed and extensively tested an HTS cable technology that can be scaled and engineered into the high-performance magnets.

PSFC

SPARC, MIT

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

Congratulations!

May 28, 2020

Meet our 2020 graduates

Norman Cao, Daniel Korsun, Adam Kuang, and Pyae Phyo graduate on May 29 in MIT's virtual commencement.

PSFC

February 13, 2020

IAP fusor workshop inaugurates Nuclear Maker Space

Research engineer Willy Burke had never heard of a “fusor.” Now he has guided the successful creation of 14 fusors, in the process inaugurating a new maker space sponsored by the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, the PSFC, and MIT’s office of Environmental Health and Safety.

PSFC

January 27, 2020

Nathan Howard wins Nuclear Fusion Award

Nathan Howard, research scientist at MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center, has won the 2019 Nuclear Fusion Award for a paper that explains heat losses due to turbulence in the core of magnetically confined fusion plasmas.

PSFC

MITEI, MIT

December 20, 2019

"Energy at scale”, engagement as levers of decarbonization

MITEI's 2019 Annual Research Conference emphasized the dire urgency of the climate crisis; the importance of an intersectoral and collaborative approach to decarbonization; and the role of economics and policy in combatting global temperature rise.

MITEI

November 22, 2019

Heating by Cooling

As a graduate student Pablo Rodriguez-Fernandez (PhD’19) became intrigued by a fusion research mystery that had remained unsolved for 20 years. His novel observations and subsequent modeling helped provide the answer, earning him the 2019 Del Favero Thesis Prize.

PSFC

Dennis Whyte, MIT

November 12, 2019

The fusion energy dream

American investment would help ensure that the United States becomes the home of a world-changing — and potentially world-saving — technology.

Washington Post

Martin Greenwald, MIT

September 19, 2019

For Green Energy, MIT Aims To Build 'A Star On Earth'

The future of fusion energy is right around the corner. You'll find it off Massachusetts Avenue, on Albany Street in Cambridge. It's on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in an old, low-rise, brown brick building once owned by Nabisco.

WBUR

Brandon Sorbom, CFS

June 26, 2019

Brandon Sorbom: Tech Review 35InnovatorsUnder35

By developing an electromagnetic system using high-temperature superconductors to insulate part of the fusion process, Sorbom’s breakthrough could make fusion power plant designs dramatically cheaper to build.

MIT Technology Review

tokamak plasma configurations, MIT

May 7, 2019

Steering Fusion’s “D-turn”

PSFC research scientist Alessandro Marinoni researchers at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility have discovered promising evidence that reversing the conventional shape of the plasma in the tokamak chamber can create a more stable environment for fusion to occur, even under high pressure.

PSFC

April 16, 2019

Talking fusion at the MIT Energy Conference

On April 4 the Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC) joined Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) at the MIT Energy Conference Tech Showcase, to demonstrate the magnetic and plasma properties that underlie fusion technologies.

PSFC

Dennis Whyte, Vinod Khosla, MIT

March 13, 2019

Vinod Khosla: “Focus on the consequences of success”

On March 6, Khosla described his thoughts on entrepreneurship, personal development, and how to tackle the world’s most challenging problems. Khosla stressed the importance of taking chances, trying new things, and being unafraid of failure. 

MIT News

February 25, 2019

Looking Forward to Fusion

Fusion power has been a tantalizing prospect for decades, promising a source of endless carbon-free energy for the world. MIT’s PSFC, in collaboration MIT alumni-led company CFS, is poised to use materials breakthroughs to build the first fusion device that generates more energy than it consumes, bringing commercial fusion energy within practical reach in the near future.

Spectrum

Pages

© 2023 Plasma Science and Fusion Center