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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Justin Harmon (609) 258-5732
Date: December 17, 1996
Schmidt Appointed Interim Director
of Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
PRINCETON, N.J. -- John A. Schmidt, currently head of the Advanced Projects Department at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, will become interim director of the laboratory, effective January 1, 1997.
Schmidt succeeds Ronald C. Davidson, who has served as director of PPPL since 1991, and who will return to research and teaching on a full-time basis. Schmidt's appointment will last until a permanent director can be found. Princeton University Provost Jeremiah Ostriker, a professor of astrophysical sciences, and Professor of Physics William Happer, chair of the University Research Board, are leading the search process.
A member of the PPPL staff for 27 years, Schmidt has led efforts to design machines, known as tokamaks, that would carry future research on magnetic fusion. In his current role, he has been responsible for several advanced projects, including the construction of the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX), a design intended to reduce the size and complexity of future fusion machines; consultation with Korean scientists on a new tokamak that would utilize superconductivity and apply advanced techniques for confining and handling fusion plasmas; and PPPL involvement in the engineering design of the International Thermonuclear Reactor (ITER), a joint project involving European, Russian, and Japanese researchers, which is expected to produce record fusion power output, as well as sustained energy production by about the year 2010.
Schmidt joined PPPL immediately after earning his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Wisconsin in 1969. He worked variously as a researcher and project manager before 1977, when he became head of a group to provide physics input to the design for the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor, PPPL's current fusion machine, which began operations in 1983. TFTR has exceeded researchers' high expectations, producing over 10 million watts of power; demonstrating the performance of a combined fuel of deuterium and tritium, which is likely to be used in a commercial fusion reactor; and advancing researchers' understanding of techniques for plasma confinement and handling.
Schmidt served as head of the Applied Physics Division at PPPL from 1980 to 1988, then led three successive efforts to design a machine to succeed TFTR in such as a way as to conform to evolving scientific objectives, as well as increasing funding constraints: the Compact Ignition Tokamak (CIT), the Burning Plasma Experiment (BPX), and the Tokamak Physics Experiment (TPX). None of these machines were built, and TFTR is scheduled to conclude its operations in 1997. Research at PPPL is expected to emphasize smaller-scale experiments directed toward basic scientific understanding of fusion plasmas, even as efforts continue to contribute to international tokamak projects.
Schmidt became head of advanced projects this year.
"We are delighted that John Schmidt will assume the leadership of PPPL at this critical moment in its history," said Ostriker. "John is universally respected as a person and as a scientist. He and the laboratory will have the complete support of Princeton University as they go forward into the post-TFTR era."
Said Happer: "I look forward to working with John Schmidt and his colleagues at PPPL as we meet the great challenges facing the U.S. fusion energy program."
Research at PPPL is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. During the current fiscal year, its budget is $64.7 million. The lab employs approximately 520 workers.
"It appears that there will be significant restructuring in the Department of Energy programs, driven by Congressional budget actions," said Schmidt. "The challenge for the PPPL management and staff will be to ensure that the dedicated and immensely talented people at the laboratory are effectively utilized to address the development of fusion energy. The need for fusion development is clearly more crucial now than at any time in the past."