8 August 2001

Plainsboro, New Jersey -- In a quest for knowledge about energy and solar power, 17 high school students from the Trenton area are building solar-powered devices and shooting toy rockets at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL). These hands-on activities are part of Plasma Academy (officially called the Energy, Space, and the Environment Institute), which began August 6 and runs through August 17 at PPPL. Topics covered are solar energy; clouds, weather, and storms; and the Sun, stars, planets, and plasmas (hot, ionized gases). The institute is part of a Mercer County Community College Upward Bound program. The participating students are from Granville Academy, Mercer Junior-Senior High School, and Trenton Central High School.

"This is the first time we are offering an academy like this for high school students. Designing and constructing useful solar-powered devices such as model cars, water heaters, and ovens, as well as shooting toy rockets and aircraft, are tasks that show the students how energy is transformed in different ways and where energy comes from," said PPPL Science Education Program Lead Scientist Andrew Post-Zwicker. Post-Zwicker designed and leads Plasma Academy, along with Watchung Hills High School physics teacher Sophia Gershman.

The academy also includes field trips to a coal-fired plant in Trenton today, Wednesday, August 8, the Hayden Planetarium in New York on Tuesday, August 14, and the Peddie School Observatory in Hightstown on Wednesday, August 15.

PPPL, funded by the DOE and managed by Princeton University, is a collaborative national center for science and innovation leading to an attractive fusion energy source. The Laboratory is on Princeton's James Forrestal Campus, off U.S. Route 1 in Plainsboro, New Jersey.

Note to Editors: Reporters and photographers are invited to attend any portion of Plasma Academy. Please contact Anthony DeMeo or Patti Wieser to make arrangements.

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