June 13, 2008: IFS papers selected for IAEA Fusion Energy Conference
April 30, 2008: Cathy Rapinett, IFS Executive Assistant, awarded 2008 Staff Excellence Award
April 3, 2008: Sherwood poster awards go to IFS graduate students, Jesse Pino and Jason Tenbarge
October 16, 2007: IFS Associate Director, Dr. François L. Waelbroeck, elected APS Fellow
February 2012: IFS scientist named visiting professor at the Institute for Advanced Research in Marseille, France for 2012-2013.
Professor Emeritus and IFS Scientist Wendell Horton was selected as the first US Scientist to receive a fusion research award from the Institute for Advanced Research (IMERA) in Marseille, France. IMERA is a newly created institute that offers residency programs for high-level international researchers of all disciplines so as to provide them with an opportunity to carry out work requiring several months of freedom from administrative or teaching duties. Dr. Horton will be working in collaboration with French scientists preparing for the ITER tokamak experiment at the Cadarache Laboratory in the Luberon Mountains north of Aix-en Provence.
January 2011: IFS Scientist leads panel discussion in India on perspectives and prospects of our nuclear future
On January 3, 2011, Swadesh Mahajan, IFS Scientist, lead a Panel Discussion in India hosted by the Director of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library entitled "Our Nuclear Future: Perspective and Prospects" Following is the abstract for the discussion
Can nuclear energy provide an economically, environmentally and socially acceptable path to solve the present energy problem? To declare its serious candidacy for the role, "nuclear energy" must cross two major barriers:
The second problem will require the breeding of fuel from fertile materials like U238 and Th232--the latter is particularly abundant in India.
The principal aim of this persentation is to show that a fusion-fission hybrid reactor--a creative combination of fusion and fission--can indeed lay the foundations of a "green" and plentiful nuclear energy economy on time scales of less than a couple decades. Although nuclear fusion is not ready for direct enegry production, recent ideas, inventions, and innovations have led us to design a workable very compact intense fusion neutron source. When these fusion neutrons are harnessed in a Hybrid, the twin problems of fission--the problems of nuclear waste and that of limited fuel supply--may be surmounted.
Glimpses of the conceptual/scientific new technology along with relevant applications will be given and an objective comparison with alternatives. We will dwell on the India relevant Hybrid enabled Thorium cycle where the fuel is produced without any reprocessing and direct handling of fissile material.
The fusion-fission hybrid adds a new dimension to the quest for a vibrant nuclear future.
Click here to view the program for the discussion.
August 2010: In Memoriam ~ Dr. Alan A. Ware
Dr. Alan Ware, long-time senior research scientist in plasma physics at The University of Texas, passed away at age 85 on Saturday, August 28, in Austin, Texas.
He was born in Portsmouth, England, and served in the British Royal Navy during World War II. In 1950-51, along with Peter Thonneman and others, he performed the first significant fusion experiments in the U.K. at Aldermaston, using what later came to be called the "Ware Pinch," in which a strong current was used to ionize, heat, and confine the plasma. He moved to the U.S. in 1965 and, in 1969, accepted a senior research position at the University of Texas at Austin as a member of the Fusion Research Center. He became affiliated with the Institute for Fusion Studies when it was established in 1980. He retired in 1994, although he continued to do research for several more years. He is remembered as a pioneer in the field of thermonuclear fusion energy.
September 2010: IFS Scientist's work featured in College of Natural Sciences Monthly Newsletter
Congratulations to Swadesh Mahajan, IFS scientist, whose work on the origin of magnetic fields has been featured in the College of Natural Sciences monthly newsletter!
August 2010: IFS Scientist's work highlighted by PRL Editor and featured on physorg.com
Congratulations to Swadesh Mahajan, IFS scientist, whose work on the origin of magnetic fields has been highlighted by PRL Editor and featured on physorg.com.
August 2010: IFS papers selected for 2010 IAEA Fusion Energy Conference
Congratulations to the following IFS scientists, whose papers were selected for presentation at the 2010 Fusion Energy Conference sponsored by the International Atomic Energy Agency (Daejeon, Korea, October 11-16):
1. A. Y. Aydemir, "On the role of magnetic geometry and flows on the L-H transition power threshold"
2. B. Breizman, "Spontaneous Formation and Evolution of Nonlinear Energetic Particle Modes with Time-dependent Frequencies"
3. W. Horton, "Turbulent Impurity Transport Modeling for C-Mod and ITER"
4. M. Kotschenreuther, "Nearer Term Fission-Fusion Hybrids: Recent Results"
IFS scientists are also co-authors on several other papers to be presented at the conference.
April 2010: IFS Student receives a Best Student Presentation Award at 2010 International Sherwood Fusion Theory Conference.
Rualdo Soto-Chavez (Hazeltine Research Group) was selected for a Best Student Presentation Award at the recent 2010 International Sherwood Fusion Theory Conference (April 19-21, Seattle, WA). His poster presentation was entitled "Two-fluid temperature-dependent relativistic waves in pulsar plasmas."
April 2010: IFS Senior Administrative Associate receives 2010 Staff Excellence Award
Congratulations to JAMES HALLIGAN, who was awarded a 2010 Staff Excellence Award from the College of Natural Science of The University of Texas at Austin. Thanks for your exemplary contribution, James!
August 2009: Hazeltine named Physics Department Chair
Richard D. Hazeltine, Professor of Physics and Senior Research Scientist at the Institute for Fusion Studies, has been named Chair of the Department of Physics at The University of Texas at Austin. His four-year appointment as Chair becomes effective September 1, 2009. In 1980, Hazeltine helped establish the Institute for Fusion Studies at UT. In 1991, he became its third Director. In 2002, Hazeltine stepped down from that position to devote his time to research. As a theoretical plasma physicist, he has worked in transport theory, plasma stability theory, and nonlinear fluid modeling. His scientific interests extend from plasma confinement to such topics as nonlinear dynamics, cosmology, and quantum decoherence. Congratulations to Professor Hazeltine!
For full text of article by Toni Feder, click here.
For full text of the article by Melanie Mcfarland, click here.
For full text of article in ScienceDaily, click here.
For full text of the article by Lee Clippard, click here.
Prof. Gennady Shvets has been elected a Fellow of the Division of Plasma Physics of the American Physical Society. His citation reads: "For theoretical and computational investigations of the interactions of ultra-strong laser pulses and relativistic particle beams with plasmas, with applications to inertial confinement fusion, plasma-based particle accelerators, and novel radiation sources."
Congratulations to Gennady on this well-deserved honor.
Dr. Gyung-Su Lee, the Director-General of the ITER Korea (Korean Domestic Agency) has been named the new President of the National Fusion Research Institute (NFRI), effective from 12 September 2008.
Dr. G.S. Lee, an internationally recognized leader in fusion research, has assumed the responsibility of the 2nd President of NFRI. At the Inauguration Ceremony on 16 September 2008, he showed his vision to transform the three-year old government-funded research institute, NFRI, into a world-leading fusion research institute within his tenure. Recently, fusion technology has been chosen as the key energy technology for ensuring the success of "Low Carbon Green Growth"; the national long-term development plan. Under this circumstance, Dr. G.S. Lee aims to realize Green Korea.
After the inauguration of the new President, NFRI will change its system from a construction phase for KSTAR into research oriented operation, and is planning to become one of the leading institutes by operating KSTAR with international participation. Thus, KSTAR, a prominent experimental facility, which recently has successfully achieved its "First Plasma" and is now in its operating phase, will be utilized as an international joint research facility for the world fusion researchers for preparing ITER Operation. The "First Plasma" discharge in KSTAR is the first step for the long-pulse plasma operation, which is essential for the commercialization of a fusion power plant and thus the upcoming few decades of KSTAR researches would definitely contribute to the world, facing serious energy problems, with a clean energy source, named Fusion.
Dr. G.S. Lee holds a bachelor's degree from the Seoul National University, major in physics (1997) and earned his Ph.D. in plasma physics and fusion from the University of Texas (1985). After joining the Korean Basic Science Institute (KBSI), the mother-institute of NFRI, in 1991, he dedicated 18 years to main domestic fusion research projects by holding various posts consecutively, such as Principal Investigator and Director-General of the KSTAR Project, Vice-President of NFRI and Director-General of ITER Korea.
In addition, Dr. G.S. Lee has provided an exemplary service to the plasma physics community through his role on many prominent national panels and advisory committees. He has served as Chairman of the Division of Plasma Physics of the Korean Physical Society and is currently serving as Chairman of the International Fusion Research Council (IFRC), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Moreover, he has also played a key role for decades in efforts to bring Korea into one of the seven ITER member states.
The need for safe, abundant and environmentally benign sources of energy has never been greater, and NFRI is confident that under the leadership of Dr. G.S. Lee, NFRI will continue to make exceptional contributions to the field of fusion energy.
Congratulations to the following IFS scientists, whose papers were selected for poster presentation at the 2008 Fusion Energy Conference sponsored by the International Atomic Energy Agency (Geneva, October 13-18):
In addition, Francois Waelbroeck was honored to be invited to give a theory overview talk, which will be on "Theory and observations of magnetic islands."
IFS graduate students Juhyung Kim and Yaroslav Urzhumov were each selected by the Department of Physics to receive an Outstanding Dissertation in Physics Award for their doctoral dissertations. Congratulations to them and to their respective thesis advisors, Prof. Wendell Horton and Prof. Gennady Shvets.
Congratulations to Cathy Rapinett, who was awarded a 2008 Staff Excellence Award from the College of Natural Sciences of The University of Texas at Austin.
Two IFS students were recently honored with prestigious graduate fellowships:
Chris Fietz was awarded a University Continuing Fellowship for academic year 2008-2009 from the Office of Graduate Studies of The University of Texas at Austin.
Carl Siemon was awarded a three-year National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship from the US Department of Defense.
Congratulations to both Chris and Carl, and to their thesis supervisor, Gennady Shvets.
Congratulations to Jesse Pino and Jason TenBarge, each of whom was selected to receive one of the six awards for best student presentations at the recent 2008 Sherwood Fusion Theory Conference in Boulder, CO.
In competition with students from many other universities, these are noteworthy honors.
Dr. Herb Berk has been elected a 2007 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
His citation reads: "For contributions to plasma physics and kinetic theory."
Sincere congratulations to Herb on this notable honor! His photo is in the October 26, 2007 Austin American Statesman, Metro Section
Dr. François L. Waelbroeck, our Associate Director, has been elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society. The citation to appear on his Fellowship Certificate will read: "For his work on the effect of velocity shear on ballooning modes, on the formation of current ribbons, and on the effect of the polarization current in magnetic islands." This certificate was presented to him at the Annual Meeting of the Division of Plasma Physics (November 12-16, 2007, Orlando, FL).
Congratulations to François on this well-deserved honor.
The Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee appointed Dr. Richard Hazeltine, an FESAC member, to chair the NCSX Review Committee. The report of the committee was submitted October 15, 2007.
This year, the program committee of the Sherwood International Fusion Theory Conference (held April 23-25, 2007, in Annapolis, MD) initiated a new award for outstanding poster presentations by graduate students. Six of these awards were given, each with an accompanying honorarium.
Two of the six awards were received by IFS graduate students:
* Jason TenBarge, "Thermodynamics of an anisotropic relativistic plasma"
* Mikhail Tushentsov, "Modeling of plasma detachment in a magnetic nozzle"
Congratulations to Jason and Mikhail!
On Jan. 11, 2007, Thomas J. Vanek, Acting Associate Director for Fusion Energy Sciences in the DOE Office of Science, announced to community leaders that OFES has named Dr. James W. Van Dam (University of Texas) as the next Director of U.S. Burning Plasma Organization.
Congratulations to Dr. Van Dam!
