STEM

Graduate physics students from across the country recently descended on the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) for the first PPPL Graduate Summer School — a series of lectures the week of Aug. 13 on topics in the field of plasma physics and an opportunity to meet other students with similar research interests. “The objective was to bring graduate students from all over the country to the Lab so we could share some of what goes on here with them,” said Arturo Dominguez, PPPL’s science education senior program leader who led the event.

They gathered in the lobby of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) in dresses and suits, standing in front of posters showing computer-aided-design (CAD) drawings, mathematical equations, and line graphs, preparing to explain a summer of plasma physics research.

While most teenagers might have been spending the hot summer months at the beach, a dedicated crew of high school students devoted the past three months conducting physics and engineering research at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL). On August 8, 15 high school students from the New Jersey area and around the country who had participated in the 10-week high school internship program presented their findings in a poster session.

The Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory’s (PPPL) mission of doing research to develop fusion as a viable source of energy is vital to the future of the planet, U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry said during an Aug. 9 visit. 

“It’s important not just to PPPL, not just to the DOE (Department of Energy) but to the world,” Perry told staff members during an all-hands meeting. “If we’re able to deliver fusion energy to the world, we’re able to change the world forever.” 

From analyzing solar flares to pursuing “a star in a jar” to produce virtually limitless electric power, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have developed insights and discoveries over the past year that advance understanding of the universe and the prospect for safe, clean, and abundant energy for all humankind.