Gerald Kulcinski

Education

• PhD 1965, Nuclear Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Fields of Interest

• Energy policy

• Magnetic/inertial fusion reactor systems studies

• Radiation damage and nuclear materials

• Lunar mining of helium-3

Additional Experience

• Battelle Northwest Lab

• Bechtel Corporation

• Los Alamos National Laboratory

• Karlsruhe Nuclear Laboratory, Germany

Summary

Gerald L. Kulcinski is currently the Associate Dean for Research for the College of Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Kulcinski is also the Grainger Professor of Nuclear Engineering and the Director of the Fusion Technology Institute. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1993 and was awarded the NASA Public Service Medal in 1993. He has been a Fellow in the American Nuclear Society since 1978.

Professor Kulcinski's research involves energy policy and developing fusion reactors as future sources of clean, safe and economical energy. His specific interests are in using advanced fuels such as D-3He to generate electricity. The D-³He fuel cycle has on the order of 1 percent of its energy in neutrons instead of the 80 percent typical of the DT cycle.

Other research includes designing and analyzing Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) reactors and materials problems associated with ICF and MCF (Magnetically Confined Fusion) reactors. The use of lasers on ion beams can present some unique advantages as well as problems to future power plants. Methods to investigate the problems are being devised.

Research into the mining of 3He on the moon is another area of interest for Kulcinski. The 3He is driven into the lunar surface by the solar winds and its value to a D-3He economy is $1-3 billion per tonne.

Kulcinski is the director of the UW-Madison Fusion Technology Institute. He also serves on advisory boards to U.S. National Laboratories and the Department of Energy.

Jack Schmitt

Education

• B.Sc, 1957, California Institute of Technology.
• PhD 1964, Geology, Harvard Univ.

Additional Experience

• Chair, NASA Advisory Council
• Former U.S. Senator, New Mexico, 1977-1983

Summary

Professor Schmitt is a consultant engaged in research with the Fusion Technology Institute on the utilization of resources from space, including the feasibility of using helium-3 from the moon to supply energy on Earth. He served as US Senator of New Mexico from 1977 to 1983, making him well versed in the politics of science in the US.  He also teaches a popular course, Resources from Space. An astronaut on the Apollo 17 mission to the moon, Schmitt has first-hand knowledge of the space environment. His 2006 book on lunar helium-3 fueled fusion power, entitled “Return to the Moon – Exploration, Enterprise, and Energy in the Human Settlement of Space” (Springer) summarizes the case for investor funded acquisition of lunar resources.

John Santarius

Education

• BS 1973, Physics, California Institute of Technology

• PhD 1979, Physics, University of Texas at Austin

Active Research Fields

• Inertial-electrostatic confinement fusion and applications

• Magnetized-target fusion plasma physics

• Magnetized fusion reactor design
  

• Lunar volatiles, particularly helium-3

• Space applications of fusion power and propulsion

• Inertial-confinement fusion plasma physics

Summary

• Investigate inertial-electrostatic confinement—including modeling UW experiments—for production of (a) neutrons for detection of highly enriched uranium, special nuclear material, and other clandestine materials plus (b) protons for creation of radioisotopes for nuclear medicine.
  

• Most of my career at UW has been in plasma physics and engineering research for magnetic confinement, inertial-electrostatic confinement, inertial confinement, and magnetized target fusion.  Configurations investigated include Polywell inertial-electrostatic confinement, plasma-jet MTF, field-reversed configurations, tandem mirrors, dipoles, tokamaks, and stellarators.
  

• In 1986, Layton Wittenberg, Jerry Kulcinski, and I published the initial paper connecting the large lunar resource of helium-3 with its potential use in D-3He fusion reactors. D-3He fuel would lead to reactors requiring more advanced physics but reducing many engineering problems. Refining the arguments and evaluating the viability of the lunar helium-3 resource remains an ongoing effort.

• D-3He magnetic fusion reactors appear able to provide propulsion capabilities dramatically more efficient for long-range space travel than those of chemical, fission, and D-T fusion rockets. My contention, developed in several published papers, is that fusion will be necessary to open the Solar-System frontier.
  

• The interesting nonlinear physics of radiation transport and shock-wave propagation must be understood for viable inertial-fusion reactors to be designed. My research in this area focuses on working with our 1-D radiation hydrodynamics code, BUCKY.

Gil Emmert

Education

• BS, Engineering Science, University of California-Berkeley

• PhD, 1968, Stevens Institute of Technology

Fields of Interest

• Theoretical plasma physics

• Inertial-electrostatic confinement fusion

• Plasma-wall interactions

• Magnetic fusion reactor design

• Space applications of fusion

Additional Experience

• United Aircraft Corporation

• Max Planck Institut fuer Plasmaphysik

• Consultant to Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Fusion Power Associates, and Prentice Hall Publishing Co.

Summary

Gilbert Emmert is Professor of Engineering Physics (emeritus). He retired in 2001 after 33 years on the faculty of the Engineering Physics department, including 9 years as department chair. His research activity has been primarily in the areas of plasma-wall interactions and magnetic fusion reactor design. Since retirement he has been active in theoretical modeling of inertial-electrostatic confinement devices.

Richard Bonomo

Education

• BS 1978 in Electrical Engineering from Case Institute of Technology

• MS 1980 in Electrical Engineering (Controlled Fusion Plasma Physics) - University of Wisconsin-Madison

Fields of Interest

• Controlled Nuclear Fusion
• Spacecraft Propulsion
• Alternative Energy Technology
• Alternative Transportation Technology and Systems

Additional Experience

• Madison Post Masters work at UW (currently ABD) in FusionPlasmas with a minor in Mechanical Engineering.

Summary

Rich joined the Fusion Technology Institute in February of 2008 as a researcher and laboratory manager.

While a freshman at Case Tech, he decided that he would like to be involved in the development of fusion energy technology, as that seemed and seems the most promising source of energy for Man in the long term. Upon graduating from Case, he entered graduate school at UW-Madison and did much experimental work in the area of magnetic confinement of ionized gases, both on his own projects, and in assisting fellow gradate students with their projects.

The flow of events eventually had him working in projects in other fields and on other projects, including the UW Hybrid Electric Vehicle project (a nation-wide student competition), the UW Powertrain Control Research Laboratory, and, for several years, the UW Space Astronomy Laboratory. His new affiliation with the IEC laboratory at the Institute is a return to his home field.

Gabriel Becerra

Education

• B.S. Physics, B.S. Nuclear Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• M.S. Nuclear Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Currently working towards Ph.D., Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics, University of Wisconsin - Madison

Fields of Interest

• Inertial Electrostatic Confinement Fusion
• Magnetic Fusion
• Energy Policy

Additional Experience

• P-24 Plasma Physics Group - Los Alamos National Laboratory

Summary

Bob Ashley

Education

• BS 1975, Physics, Ripon College

Fields of Interest

• Steady state fusion

• Advanced fuels

Additional Experience

• Electronics Technician: UC Berkeley; Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory;
• DIII-D Tokamak, General Atomics

Logan Campbell

Education

• Working towards BS, Nuclear Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Fields of Interest

• Non-Terrestrial Resources

• Inertial-electrostatic confinement fusion

Summary

I have been working with the IEC group since fall of 2005.  I served in the 82^ND Airborne Division for five years.  I enjoy reading about new scientific discoveries and engineering advances.

Currently on active duty in in the United States Army.

Ben Cipiti

Education

• Graduated with his PhD in Nuclear Engineering, May 2004

• Thesis Topic: The Fusion of Advanced Fuels to Produce Medical Isotopes Using Inertial Electrostatic Confinement

• Currently employed at Sandia National Laboratory

S. Krupakar Murali

Education

• Graduated with his PhD in Physics, May 2004

• Thesis Topic: Diagnostic Study of Steady State Advanced Fuel (D-D and D-³He) Fusion in an IEC Device

• Currently employed at Micron Technology

   John Weidner

Education

• Graduated with his Masters in Nuclear Engineering, May 2003

• Thesis Topic: The Production of ¹³N from Inertial Electrostatic Confinement Fusion

• Currently a Major in the United States Army, working for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA)

Alex Wehmeyer

    

Education

• Graduated with his Masters in Nuclear Engineering May 2005
• Thesis Topic: Explosives Detection

• Currently teaching physics at the United States Military Academy at West Point

   Tracy Radel

Education

• Masters 2007, Nuclear Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison

• Currently employed at Sandia National Laboratory

Carlos Paz-Soldan

Education

• B.Sc.E - Electrical Physics, Queen's University at Kingston, Canada

• B.A. Spanish Language and Literature, Queen's University at Kingston, Canada

• Currently working towards M.Sc/Ph.D., Engineering Physics, University of Wisconsin - Madison

Fields of Interest

• Nuclear Fusion

• Measurement and Automation

• Programming

• Energy Policy

Additional Experience

• Plasma Physics Laboratory - University of Saskatchewan, Canada

Summary

John Sorebo

Education

• B.S. Electrical Engineering, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

• M.S.  Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Currently working towards Ph.D., Nuclear Engineering and Engineering  Physics, University of Wisconsin - Madison

Fields of Interest

• Inertial Electrostatic Confinement Fusion for Near-term Applications
• Fissile Material Detection
• Nuclear Fusion for Energy Generation
• Energy Policy

Additional Experience

• Electrical Engineer - Kimberly-Clark Corporation

Publications

• "System and Method for Controlling the Width of Web Material", US Patent 7014083, Canadian Patent 2470482
• "Web Inspection Using Gradient-Indexed Optics", IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, vol. 41, Issue 6, Nov 2005, pp. 1476-1482.



Summary

       John has had a long standing interest in nuclear fusion and began pursuing this interest more formally in 2006 when he enrolled in the Ph.D. program at the University. John is currently working on the employment of inertial electrostatic confinement devices for Special Nuclear Material (SNM) detection applications. Unauthorized nuclear material transport will, unfortunately, likely grow as a threat in the world and represents both a policy and technology challenge. Neutron detection systems show early promise in the ability to successfully interrogate transport containers.  John is currently working on MCNP gamma and neutron transport simulations to determine an effective interrogation configuration for various inspection applications.

David Boris

Education

• BS in Physics from John Carroll University in Cleveland OH

• MS-Nuclear Engineering/Engineering Physics from University of Wisconsin Madison
  

Fields of Interest

• IEC Fusion Applications

• Innovative Confinement Concepts for Fusion Energy

• Energy Policy

• Space Applications of Plasma Physics

• Innovative Energy Conversion Schemes

Summary

Dave Boris has been working in the IEC research group since 2003. Dave is studying the plasma physics of the source region of IEC-1 as well as the plasma physics of the high energy core of the IEC device. He has also done work the direct conversion high energy protons from fusion reactions to electricity. Additional work on fusion research was done at the University of California, Irvine where he worked on the construction of an FRC device for colliding beam fusion. I enjoy skiing, golfing, baseball, softball, and ultimate frisbee