John Edwards, associate program director for inertial confinement fusion (ICF) and high energy density (HED) science and the ICF program leader at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), is a recipient of the Leadership Award from Fusion Power Associates (FPA) Board of Directors. FPA Leadership Awards have been given annually since 1980 to recognize those who have shown outstanding leadership qualities in accelerating the development of fusion as a commercial power source. Edwards is cited for "many scientific contributions and the managerial leadership you are providing to national and international research efforts on inertial confinement fusion and high energy density plasma physics," and noting especially "your leadership of the scientific program on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) for both high energy density physics and for the eventual achievement of ignition leading toward a commercial fusion power source." Edwards
joined LLNL in 1998, and, over the course of his first five years, worked on
developing much of the foundations for the HED laser program in place today.
Previously, he served as an HED program leader at the U.K.'s Atomic Weapons
Establishment. He received his Ph.D. in 1990 from Imperial College in London
and is a fellow of the American Physical Society. "This
is quite an unexpected honor. Right now we have three remarkable facilities in
the NIF, Z and Omega leading the way in the national security missions of high
energy density and fusion research," Edwards said. "The excitement in
the international community is almost tangible as we probe and learn about new
states of matter and start to see signs of significant self-heating in ignition
experiments. We have an incredibly talented and dedicated international team
working on this, and the progress they've made this last year is quite
remarkable to me and the prospects for further advances look promising. I'm very
fortunate to be able to work with these people. "None
of this would be possible without an equally dedicated and talented body of
people who have built these facilities, keep them running at peak performance
and provide the targets and diagnostics capabilities we need," he added.
"Much of the progress on the NIF this year would not have been possible
without the strong encouragement and support of our colleagues at the National
Nuclear Security Administration. This is truly an exciting time to be around, and
it's a privilege to be part of it." The awards will
be presented at the FPA's 35th Annual Meeting and Symposium, Dec. 16-17, in
Washington, D.C. |
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