Egemen Kolemen, a staff research physicist at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) and an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Princeton University, was awarded the American Nuclear Society's. (ANS) 2024 Technical Accomplishment Award for his research on using machine learning for controlling fusion reactors.
Achieving a sustained fusion reaction is a delicate balancing act, requiring a sea of moving parts to come together to maintain a high-performing plasma: one that is dense enough, hot enough, and confined for long enough for fusion to take place.
Led by Sangkyeun Kim, we achieved the highest fusion performance without harmful edge energy bursts in two separate tokamaks, KSTAR and DIII-D. This work combined physics and AI to control the fusion plasma.
Read about our research, led by Egemen Kolemen and conducted by researchers including Jaemin Seo, SangKyeun Kim, and Azarakhsh Jalalvand, affiliated with Princeton University and Princeton Plasma Physics Lab (PPPL).
Dr. Rory Conlin defended his thesis on "Stellarator optimization" in 2024, demonstrating outstanding proficiency and dedication. His work, which has been a cornerstone of recent lab discussions, will continue as he transitions to a postdoctoral role at the University of Maryland.
Dr. Daniel Dudt has successfully defended his thesis on “stellarator optimization” this 2024, marking a significant milestone in his academic journey. His rigorous research and innovative approach have culminated in his next role as a Senior Scientist at Thea Energy.
Dr. Susan Redmond showcased her scholarly excellence in 2023 with her defense of "Correction of Quasi-Static Wavefront Error Drifts in Wide-Field and High-Contrast Imaging Telescopes."
During a fusion reaction, every millisecond matters.
In the blink of an eye, the unruly, superheated plasma that drives nuclear fusion can escape from its magnetic confinement within the donut-shaped device, or tokamak, designed to contain it. These getaways frequently spell the end of the reaction, posing a core challenge to developing fusion as a non-polluting, virtually limitless energy source.
Since the advent of fusion research, scientists have published thousands of documents on the subject — papers, conference proceedings, and even written logs from previous experiments at fusion reactors around the world. Such a wellspring of information would easily take a lifetime to read, and even longer to comprehend.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution to the clean energy transition, experts agreed at the Andlinger Center’s 12th annual meeting.