IFS graduate becomes new president of the National Fusion Research Institute of Korea
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.
IFS papers selected for IAEA Fusion Energy Conference
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):
- Ahmet Aydemir: "An intrinsic angular momentum source in tokamaks"
- Mike Kotschenreuther: "The Super X Divertor (SXD) and High Power Density Experiment (HPDX)"
- Francois Waelbroeck: "Interaction of turbulence and magnetic islands"
- Linjin Zheng: "Gyrokinetic theory for kinetic analysis of the resistive wall modes in ITER"
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."
Congratulations on graduate student fellowships
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.
Sherwood poster awards to to IFS graduate students, Jesse Pino and Jason Tenbarge
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.
IFS Associate Director, Dr. François L. Waelbroeck elected APS Fellow
Dr. François L. Waelbroeck, our associate director, has been elected to be 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 will be 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.
Dr. Herb Berk elected a 2007 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
Herb Berk has been elected as a 2007 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
His citation is: "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.
Sherwood poster awards go to IFS graduate students, Mikail Tushentsov and Jason Tenbarge
This year, the program committee of the Sherwood International Fusion Theory Conference (held earlier this week 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!
IFS Director, Dr. James Van Dam appointed Director of the US Burning Plasma Organization
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!
