Preparing community college and high school students for inertial confinement fusion jobs in engineering and technology
Year: 2024
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: The University of Rochester Laser Energetic Lab demonstrated the control of plasma instability in the condition of inertial confinement fusion in April 2023 and secured a 500 million dollars cooperative agreement with the US Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration by December 2023, with new emphasis training for technicians, engineers, operators, etc.As an open-admission community college with Diversity Equity Inclusiveness (DEI) focus in an urban setting in New York State, a fusion-learning pedagogy was initiated to recruit and prepare students interested in fusion energy jobs, including those Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) students enrolled in the New York State Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program.The pedagogy consists of experimental experience in laser alignment and Michelson interferometer techniques at Physics II Electricity & Magnetism level.Subsequently DOE awarded 100 million dollars to Rochester in the 2024 budget, for the implementation of broadband laser driven fusion with workforce development.The updated pedagogy consists of project experience in target alignment precision and Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven simulation, consistent with the products of the partner companies in the Rochester Fusion Consortium.The AI driven plasma simulation component was found to be better received by the students, in comparison to the target alignment component using the standard Kalman filter algorithm in Control Theory.The modification of the implementation to the high school students in Outreach program is presented, together with suggestions for improving the first assessment.Recruitment for out-of-state high school students via the New York State Excelsior scholarship pathway and the articulation agreement strategies to facilitate community college students interested in laser driven fusion jobs are discussed.
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--49454
Authors: Arkadiy Portnoy, Sunil Dehipawala, Tak Cheung
Language: English
Subfield: Architecture
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: gold
Funder: National Science Foundation
OpenAlex ID: W4404994200