A Collaborative National Center for Fusion & Plasma Research

Plasma diagnostics

The tools used by researchers to assess the characteristics of superheated and electrically charged gases known as plasmas.

Stefan Gerhardt

Stefan Gerhardt is head of Experimental Research Operations for the National Spherical Torus Experiment- Upgrade (NSTX-U). He operates numerous diagnostics on NSTX-U, along with designing plasma control schemes and running physics experiments. He has previously worked on a wide variety of fusion machines, including spherical tokamaks, stellarators, and field reversed configurations.

Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory Honors Three Researchers

Plainsboro, New Jersey — The U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) honored three fusion energy researchers — Manfred Bitter, Robert Ellis, and Ken Hill — for their scientific accomplishments during an awards ceremony on March 8 at the laboratory. Physicists Bitter and Hill received the Kaul Prize for Excellence in Plasma Physics Research and Technology Development. Ellis, an engineer, received the PPPL Distinguished Engineering Fellow award.