Plasma material interactions | MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center

April 6, 2022

Turning neutrons into fusion fuel

“One of the things that you get good at while at MIT,” says PSFC research scientist Sara Ferry, “is being able to start from nothing on a particular system or skill and knowing how to approach it in a way that’s effective.”

PSFC News

Illustration of reverse d-shaped plasma inside tokamak

October 22, 2021

Alessandro Marinoni: Returning to fusion’s D-turn

Alessandro Marinoni has continued to examine an innovative plasma shape, dubbed “negative triangularity,” extending previous research to configurations more compatible with the plasma environment of a reactor.

PSFC News

August 18, 2021

Steven Jepeal wins second place prize in Innovations in Nuclear Technology R&D awards

MIT Nuclear Science and Engineering (NSE) graduate student Steven Jepeal has been awarded a Second Place prize in the 2021 Innovations in Nuclear Technology R&D Awards.

PSFC 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

August 12, 2020

Lauryn Kortman: Juggling fusion magnets and LED batons

Rising sophomore Lauryn Kortman is working on a future fusion project, ARC, that embodies her own entrepreneurial spirit.

PSFC

April 10, 2020

Exploring novel and low-cost approaches to creating fusion energy

MIT experience with heating plasmas will support novel and low-cost approaches to creating fusion energy.

PSFC

September 25, 2017

VIDEO: Leigh Ann Kesler: Tracking erosion happening inside fusion devices

NSE PhD student, Leigh Ann Kesler who studies at MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center, dates her interest in fusion from an 11th-grade persuasive writing assignment. Inspired in part by her father’s interest in the potential of nuclear energy, she decided to investigate fusion.

August 28, 2017

Leigh Ann Kesler: Scaling heights and measuring depths

PSFC graduate student Leigh Ann Kesler's main focus is erosion of materials inside fusion devices, in which strong magnetic fields keep the hot plasma fuel confined and away from the walls of the vacuum chamber where fusion reactions occur.

PSFC

May 8, 2017

Zach Hartwig: Applying Diverse Skills in Pursuit of a Fusion Breakthrough

“It’s our responsibility to get beyond our walls and have a positive impact in the world”, says newly appointed assistant professor of nuclear sicnece and engineering Zach Hartwig.

NSE

March 23, 2017

Monica Pham: Advancing nuclear power, empowering girls

When she was 16, Monica Pham mapped out her future. “My chemistry teacher was talking about how atoms could generate unlimited power,” recalls Pham. “I asked her what kind of person worked in this field, and when she said a nuclear engineer, I decided that’s what I wanted to be.”

NSE