News

A mid-plane view of the SPARC tokamak

November 16, 2023

New study shows how universities are critical to emerging fusion industry

A paper by Dennis Whyte, Carlos Paz-Soldan of Columbia University, and Brian D. Wirth of the University of Tennessee Knoxville explores academia's role in the development of fusion energy. The authors cite additional fusion faculty, private industry collaborations, and creative licensing strategies as essential for enabling the sustainable growth of a commercial fusion industry.

PSFC News

A photo grid of six candid and portrait photographs featuring Dennis Whyte in 2011, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2023.

November 7, 2023

Dennis Whyte Steps Down as Director of the Plasma Science and Fusion Center

Dennis Whyte, the Hitachi America Professor of Engineering in the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, came to MIT in 2006 and has been director of the PSFC since 2015. Over the past nine years, the number of students at the PSFC has grown tremendously, as have the types of partnerships and breadth of research. After stepping down at the end of 2023, Whyte plans to focus on teaching, research, and entrepreneurship at the PSFC. The Vice President of Research is forming a search committee to identify the PSFC's next leader; if a new director isn’t selected by 2024, an Interim Director will be appointed.

PSFC News

Tuba Balta at PSFC

July 8, 2022

Fusion’s new ambassador

High school student Tuba Balta engages new audiences through her MIT PSFC internship.

PSFC News

Dennis Whyte and Bob Mumgaard in experimental environment

May 12, 2022

Practically changing the world

PSFC Director Dennis Whyte received  a 2022 University of Saskatchewan Alumni Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing his significant accomplishments since graduating from USask.

University of Saskatchewan News

Diagram of SPARC tokamak

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

Zoe Fisher in the laboratory

February 25, 2022

Finding her way to fusion

Zoe Fisher's undergraduate research journey leads to a role working on the SPARC tokamak.

PSFC News

20T magnet Demo Event Highlights, MIT

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

HTS Magnet, MIT

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.

Star in a bottle, MIT

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.

Vinny Fry, MIT

June 24, 2021

Wired for Success

MIT engineer, Vinny Fry is preparing to help test SPARC’s Toroidal Field Magnet Coil (TFMC), a scaled prototype for the HTS magnets that will surround the tokamak’s toroidal vacuum chamber to confine the plasma.

PSFC

Diagram of ARCH concept

April 12, 2021

On course to create a fusion power plant

Since taking on course 22.63 (Principles of Fusion Engineering) over a decade ago Prof. Dennis Whyte has moved away from standard lectures, prodding the class to work collectively on  “real world” issues. The course has been instrumental in guiding the real future of fusion at the PSFC.

PSFC News

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

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

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