Session JP12: Poster Session: Education and Outreach (2:00 - 5:00pm)

Anomalous Zeeman Effect Experiment with Gas Discharge Spectral Tubes

Traditionally, the Zeeman Effect is studied using Fabry-Perot etalons. However, the normal Zeeman split has been successfully detected in stellarators [1] and tokamaks [2] (\textasciitilde 3-6T) using large spectrometers instead. Previously, we have developed an educational permanent magnet -- based system that allows the Paschen-Back limit of the Zeeman Effect to be studied by students [3]. This system was recently upgraded to deliver stronger fields and sub-pm spectral resolution using a standard spectrometer. Anomalous Zeeman splitting of the Na D-line was detected using this system, as well as many other persistent spectral lines in noble gases. [1] M. Goto and S. Morita, Phys. Rev. E 65(2), 026401 (2002). [2] J. Ghosh, et al, Phys. Plasmas 11(3), 1033--1042 (2004). [3] A. S. Taylor, A. R. Hyde, and O. V. Batishchev, American Journal of Physics, 85: 565--574, Aug. 2017.   

Progress Toward Fusion Energy Gain as Measured by the Fusion Triple Product: a Reference for Fusion Researchers and an Outreach Tool for Potential Investors

First derived in 1955 by J. D. Lawson, the Lawson criterion remains today as the major guiding scientific metric in fusion research. The main purpose of this poster (and an associated paper in preparation) is to review and explain the Lawson criterion and related concepts such as the fusion triple product, fusion energy gain $Q$, and $Q_{eng}$, while also illustrating the progress made in fusion research over the past 65 years. Many plots and tables of achieved fuel densities, temperatures, energy confinement times, and experimentally inferred fusion triple products are presented for a broad range of historical and contemporary fusion experiments. Only experimentally measured or inferred values that have been published in the peer-reviewed literature are included. For extracting triple product parameters, we discuss methodologies that are necessarily specific to different fusion approaches (including magnetic, inertial, and magneto-inertial fusion). This poster and the associated paper in preparation are intended both as a reference for fusion researchers and as an educational/outreach tool for other interested stakeholders such as potential private fusion investors.   

The ITER Thermonuclear Fusion Research-Education as the Vehicle for the Increase in both National Security and Global Stability

It is argued that the permanent government-private support increase on the national level in the research-education in energy sources physics augments the quality of national security, on one hand, and national-global stability, on the other hand.$^{\mathrm{\thinspace }}$\footnote{V. F. Weisskopf Center for National Security Physics and Global Cooperation, Stefan University; You Tube video: \newline https://www.youtube.com/watch?v$=$aVtOYuX816s} \footnote{V. Stefan (Editor-Author) Physics and Society (AIP Press-Springer, 1998)---In Honor of V.F. Weisskopf; p.21., Weisskopf, the Director General (1961--1965) of the CERN. } \footnote{M N Rosenbluth Summer School (S-U Press, La Jolla, California; 2007); \par Marshall Nicholas Rosenbluth Center for Controlled Thermonuclear Fusion Studies-Stefan University; You Tube video: \newline https://www.youtube.com/watch?v$=$0iCMIAX3tjA} The ITER, as an international fusion energy program, has the latent characteristic of a national defense-security research, in addition to the obvious one---the increase in global collaboration-education and global stability.   

2020 Introduction to Fusion Energy and Plasma Physics Course: A Silver-Lining in a Pandemic

Every year since 1993, PPPL has hosted a week-long introduction to plasma physics course for the undergraduate interns at the lab. The participants have been, historically, undergraduate interns doing research at PPPL and General Atomics and have numbered less than 100. Starting in 2015, the courses have been web-streamed live and archived for future view in a dedicated website: suli.pppl.gov, but there have always been components of the course that only local students could take advantage of, e.g. a lab tour, an experimental session, and a networking session with PPPL graduate students. With the COVID-19 pandemic and the laboratory in curtailment, we have adapted the course to be fully remote. This new format has reduced the barrier of entry for both speakers and participants and has resulted in an expanded course with more than 600 participants and 36 speakers (up from 15). In this presentation, we will highlight the challenges of the new format as well as the unique opportunities that it has presented to PPPL and the community as a whole.   

Lemonade Out of Lemons: The Success of PPPL’s SULI and CCI Internship Programs during a Pandemic

A normal summer at PPPL would entail 60+ students all converging to attend a week-long course in plasma physics and half would remain at the lab afterward to perform their research for the remaining 9-weeks of their internship. In 2020, because of the curtailment of PPPL on-site operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we made several changes to the program. Through mentor collaboration, we were able to convert 36 out of 42 projects to be done exclusively remotely. The success of the virtual course, which was expanded from one week to two weeks in duration, drew the path to help us make up for the missing face-face value of the internship with staff and peers. The rest of the 8-week internship program consists of virtual meetings with Science Ed. staff and mentors, virtual networking with PPPL staff, grad students, and other national labs SULI/CCI programs peers, using the virtual tools Zoom, Discord, and GroupMe. We will hold virtual technical seminars with PPPL staff, professional development opportunities using resources from Princeton University, PPPL, and ORISE Learn. The internship program will conclude with a virtual poster session.   

Developing the Plasma and Fusion Energy Workforce (DEI)

In 2019, PPPL created three engineering- and technician-focused training programs to develop and train future generations to meet the growing demand for a technical workforce in plasma physics and fusion energy. These include a 10-week Engineering Undergraduate Internship, a 2-Year Engineering Rotational Program, and the 4-Year technical Apprenticeship. The technical apprenticeship is a federally certified program, in partnership with the State of New Jersey, consisting of 4 years of on-the-job training and nearly 600 hours of formal instruction. These new programs are developing pipelines of talent in the plasma and fusion energy workforce in areas critical to bringing the science of fusion to practical reality. This presentation will discuss outcomes of the first year of implementation, lessons learned, pandemic adjustments, and new initiatives, especially in the areas of diversity and retention.