Leader of Fusion Energy Sciences office within the US Dept of Energy Visits Plasma Lab
May 30 2024
Dr. Jean Paul Allain, the Associate Director of Science for Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) within the Department of Energy, visited the APAM Department this spring to engage with the people, experiments, and research of APAM's Plasma Physics program.
Dr. Allain leads the funding agency that primarily supports the Columbia Plasma Physics Laboratory, providing over $5 million annually. During his visit, Dr. Allain met with the Plasma Physics faculty, including Professors Michael Mauel, Gerald Navratil, Elizabeth Paul, and Carlos Paz-Soldan, as well as students and researchers in the Plasma Physics Laboratory. Undergraduate and graduate students presented the group’s work with on-campus fusion technology experiments, stellarator plasma and magnet experiments, and tokamak plasma experiments. Dr. Allain was shown early design concepts for future experiments at the lab as well as the group's theoretical work. In addition, Dr. Allain visited with leadership team at SEAS and had brunch with several students.
Dr. Allain with students at Columbia's fusion technology experiments
Dr. Allain with students at the HBT-EP tokamak experiment
Dr. Allain with students at Columbia’s Stellarator eXperiment
Dr. Allain with students at the Columbia University tokamak for education
Dr. Allain after enjoying brunch with graduate students