A message from Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory Director Stewart Prager
I am delighted to welcome you to the very first edition of the PPPL News. This new quarterly e-newsletter will inform PPPL's friends and neighbors about some of the many exciting research projects and public events taking place at the Laboratory -- a world-leading center of research in plasma physics and fusion energy. The theme of this issue is "partnerships." Our scientific research is broad -- we reach for the stars as we explore the future of magnetic fusion, the same process that powers the sun. Our partnerships with leading scientists are also far-reaching. They range from our partnerships with our neighbors in the local communities that surround us here in New Jersey, through our outreach activities, to our research collaborations that extend across the U.S. and over the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.I hope you will take the time to learn more about the stories highlighted in this debut publication. -Stewart C. Prager
Our Team
PPPL News is published quarterly by the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory's Office of Communications.
Questions or comments? Contact PPPL News Editor Jeanne Jackson DeVoe jjackson@pppl.gov.
A team from Mayor Michael Bloomberg's NYC °CoolRoofs program gets a tour of the Laboratory's cool roofs -- white reflective roofs fitted with sensors and weather stations that are part of a Princeton University research project aimed at finding out much energy cool roofs save compared to standard black roofs. They are discussing ways they can forge a partnership with PPPL and Princeton researchers.
Stewart Prager, the director of PPPL, brings a light touch to leading PPPL, where he has overseen the $94 million upgrade of the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) since he came to the Laboratory four years ago. His research work had a major influence on the design of tokamaks, the vessels that are used in magnetic fusion experiments.
PPPL is partnering with researchers in South Korea on early conceptual designs for a pioneering fusion facility called the K-DEMO that could be the final step before construction of a commercial fusion power plant that would produce clean and abundant energy for generating electricity.
PPPL's Science on Saturday lecture series is the hottest ticket in town as crowds flock to lectures by leading experts on cutting edge science and technology topics. The lectures are attracting everyone from high school students to older people who have been coming to the lectures for decades and they all have stories about what brought them to the event.Come early for the 9:30 a.m. lectures, which are held through March 16. (There is no lecture on Feb. 23). Click here for a schedule.
There are a wide variety of public events at PPPL. Each week, the Laboratory hosts colloquiums on a wide variety of science topics. On Feb. 28 at 4:15 p.m., for example, Professor Nicolas Coch, of Queens College, CUNY, discusses why New Jersey and New York are particularly vulnerable to the destruction caused by hurricanes in the light of Hurricanes Sandy and Irene. He will discuss recent research based on those hurricanes and what can be done to prevent such widespread damage in the future.
Did you know that there are magnetic fusion experiments going on across the country? There are dozens of laboratories conducting research that will be crucial to making nuclear fusion a cheap, plentiful and safe energy source.
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