NEWS: Plasma science

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

July 8, 2020

How to grow a cosmic magnetic field

“Tiny magnetic fields, through interaction with plasmas, can potentially increase their coherence length by many orders of magnitude to become the enormous astronomical-scale magnetic fields observed in the universe,” says graduate student Muni Zhou.

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

October 30, 2019

Demonstrating the fundamentals of fusion

October provided the PSFC with consecutive opportunities to educate students and the general public about the science and technology that support plasma fusion research: MIT Energy Night at the MIT Museum, and the American Physical Society Division of Plasma Physics (APS-DPP) Plasma Science Expo in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

PSFC

August 1, 2019

PSFC physicist Maria Gatu Johnson wins APS award

Research scientist Maria Gatu Johnson, part of the PSFC’s High-Energy-Density Physics Division, will receive the American Physical Society’s Katherine E. Weimer Award, which recognizes outstanding plasma science research by a woman physicist in the early stages of her career.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Julian Picard, MIT

July 31, 2019

Julian Picard: Chopping microwaves, sharpening instincts

Picard's study of the microwaves that speed from the megawatt gyrotron at MIT’s PSFC could lead the way to smaller and more powerful particle accelerators, the kind of finished product Picard finds rewarding.  

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

Members of the HEDP division, MIT

January 28, 2019

Stronger together

Officially entitled the Center for Advanced Nuclear Diagnostics and Platforms for Inertial ICF and HEDP at Omega, NIF and Z, the new Center will focus on the properties of plasma under extreme conditions of temperature, density and pressure.

PSFC

November 20, 2018

Reaching in and out at the APS DPP meeting

Along with traditional outreach activities the PSFC introduced SPARC for the first time at a scientific conference during technical sessions devoted to MIT’s high-field approach to fusion.

PSFC

Nuno Loureiro, MIT

October 16, 2018

Nuno Loureiro: Probing the world of plasmas

As a boy in Portugal, Nuno Loureiro wanted to be a scientist, even when “everyone else wanted to be a policeman or a fireman.” He’s now focused on the physics of plasma, with applications in both astrophysics and clean energy.

MIT News

July 23, 2018

Alex Creely receives Itoh Project Prize

NSE graduate student Alex Creely has received the Kyushu University Itoh Project Prize for his poster “Cross-Machine Validation of TGLF and GENE on Alcator C-Mod and ASDEX Upgrade.” The prize recognizes excellence in doctoral student plasma physics research.

PSFC

April 17, 2018

Magnets, compasses and lightsabers

In Washington DC scientific curiosity was at its peak, along with the cherry blossoms, during the fifth biennial USA Science and Engineering Festival. Thousands of the approximately 370,000 attendees stopped by the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC) booth from April 6 – 8 to learn about plasmas and magnets, which are key to the Center’s pursuit of fusion energy.

PSFC

March 9, 2018

3Q: Zach Hartwig on MIT's big push on fusion

Today, MIT announced plans to work with a newly formed company, Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), to realize the promise of fusion as a source of unlimited, safe, carbon-free energy. 

MIT News

Pablo Rodriguez Fernandez, MIT

February 16, 2018

Integrated simulation

A team led by MIT professor Anne White, and NSE graduate student Pablo Rodriguez Fernandez,  has conducted studies that offer a new take on the complex physics of plasma heat transport, and point toward more robust models of fusion plasma behavior.

Nuclear Science and Engineering

Alex Creely, MIT

September 25, 2017

VIDEO: Alex Creely: Bridging the gap between simulation and reality

In his third year at MIT, Nuclear Science and Engineering (NSE) graduate student Alex Creely has figured out enough about the hot, turbulent plasmas necessary for creating fusion energy that his research has been honored with an Innovations in Fuel Cycle Research Award, offered by the Office of Nuclear Energy, Nuclear Technology R&D of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

Monica Pham, MIT

September 25, 2017

VIDEO: Monica Pham: Advancing nuclear power and 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.”

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