3 November 2003

Plainsboro, New Jersey -- Robert Kaita and Neil Pomphrey, physicists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), have been elected Fellows of the American Physical Society (APS). Kaita and Pomphrey received the lifetime appointments in recognition of their contributions to the field of plasma physics. APS officials announced the Fellows during the society's Division of Plasma Physics annual meeting, held in Albuquerque in October. The APS rules limit the maximum number of Fellows selected each year to be no more than half of one percent of the Division membership.

Kaita was honored for his research concerning the fundamentals of heating plasmas to the temperatures required for fusion. Plasma is a hot, ionized gas used as the fuel for the production of fusion energy. Kaita has been involved in many projects at PPPL since joining the Lab as a post-doctoral fellow in 1978. Presently, he is co-principal investigator of the Current Drive Experiment-Upgrade and the head of Diagnostic Operations for the National Spherical Torus Experiment.

PPPL Director Rob Goldston said, "Dr. Kaita is a master of the measurement. No one sees more deeply and more insightfully into a 500-million-degree plasma than Bob Kaita. His contributions to understanding energetic particles in plasmas have been at the forefront of our research."

Kaita received a bachelor of science degree with departmental honors in physics from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1973 and a Ph.D. in nuclear physics from Rutgers University in 1978. Kaita is the author or co-author of nearly 300 publications in nuclear and plasma physics and has been invited to give lectures at institutions in China, England, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, South Korea, Switzerland, and the U.S. He is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and is the secretary and past president of the Princeton Chapter of Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society. Kaita lives in Manalapan.

Pomphrey was cited for his pioneering theoretical and computational investigations of fusion plasmas interacting with magnetic fields and circuits. Pomphrey's work serves as a foundation for predictions of plasma performance in magnetic fusion energy devices such as stellarators.

"Dr. Pomphrey's computational investigations of physical science issues is unsurpassed. His contributions to the complex three-dimensional design of the new National Compact Stellarator Experiment have been critical to its success," said Goldston. The National Compact Stellarator Experiment is planned as the centerpiece of the U.S. effort to develop the physics and determine the attractiveness of the compact stellarator as the basis for a fusion power reactor. It is being designed and is scheduled to operate beginning in 2007 at PPPL, in partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Pomphrey received a bachelor of science degree in chemical physics from Edinburgh University in Scotland and a Ph.D. in physics from Stirling University in Scotland. He completed post-doctoral research at Queen Mary College in London and at the University of California at Berkeley before joining the staff of the La Jolla Institute in California in 1980. Three years later, he came to PPPL. He is the author or co-author of more than 100 papers published in journals and conference proceedings. Pomphrey is a resident of Lawrenceville.

PPPL, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and managed by Princeton University, is a collaborative national center for science and innovation leading to an attractive fusion energy source. Fusion is the process that powers the sun and the stars. In the interior of stars, matter is converted into energy by the fusion, or joining, of the nuclei of light atoms to form heavier elements.

For further information, please contact:

Anthony R. DeMeo
Head, Information Services
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
(609) 243-2755
ademeo@pppl.gov

Patricia Wieser
Information Services
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
(609) 243-2757
pwieser@pppl.gov

Downloadable print-quality photo of Dr. Robert Kaita. Resolution is 300 dpi, print size is approximately 3 inches wide by 4 inches high, file type is jpeg, and file size is 811 kB. Photo by Elle Starkman, PPPL.

Downloadable print-quality photo of Dr. Neil Pomphrey. Resolution is 300 dpi, print size is approximately 3 inches wide by 4 inches high, file type is jpeg, and file size is 598 kB. Photo by Elle Starkman, PPPL.