People

Aaron Bader
Staff Scientist
(Affiliate)
Stefan Buller
Postdoctoral Research Associate

Particle and energy transport in tokamaks and stellarators, the two leading concepts for confining plasma to extract energy from nuclear fusion. Using analytical and numerical tools to study how particles and energy leaks out of these magnetically confined plasmas.

Optimization of stellarators. Finding out how to tell a computer what…

Joshua W Burby
Staff Scientist
(Affiliate)

Mathematical, theory, modeling, and simulation at University of Texas.

Benjamin Faber
Staff Scientist
(Affiliate)

Computational plasma physicist studying turbulence in fusion plasmas and the optimization of stellarators in the Department of Engineering Physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Andrew Giuliani
Research Scientist
(Affiliate)
Chris Hegna
Harvey D. Spangler Professor
(Founding Principal Investigator)
Stuart Hudson
Staff Research Physicist
(Affiliate)

Dr. Stuart R. Hudson is a staff research physicist in the Theory Department. After completing a Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics in the Department of Theoretical Physics at the Australian National University he joined the Theory Department of the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute as a post-doctoral Research Fellow, and then joined the Center…

Alan Kaptanoglu
Postdoctoral Research Associate
(Affiliate)

Dr. Alan Kaptanoglu received a B.S. in Physics from Stanford University in 2016 and a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Washington in 2021. He joined the Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics (IREAP) at the University of Maryland in 2022. He is currently working on stellarator optimization with Dr. Matt Landreman in…

Bharat Medasani
Research Engineer
(Affiliate)

Research Engineer.

Harry Mynick
Principal Research Physicist
(Affiliate)

Harry Mynick is a Principal Research Physicist (emeritus) in the PPPL Theory Department. He has been a Fellow of the American Physical Society since 1996. His principal areas of expertise are in plasma transport, particularly in 3-dimensional toroidal systems, energetic particle dynamics, and canonical mechanics, and has been a pioneer in the…

Elizabeth Paul
Assistant Professor
(Affiliate)

Dr. Elizabeth Paul uses theoretical and computational methods to study the magnetic confinement of plasmas for fusion energy sciences. Controlled fusion holds promise of providing a carbon-neutral, safe, and sustainable energy source. Her work focuses on the advancement of the stellarator magnetic confinement concept, a complex toroidal…

David Pfefferlé
Lecturer
(Affiliate)

David Pfefferlé's research revolves around the application of differential geometry to plasma physics problems with focus on magneto-hydrodynamics, field-line topology, guiding-centre theory and structure-preserving numerical methods. David Pfefferlé is a Lecturer in mathematics at the 

Alkesh R Punjabi
Professor and Director of Center for Fusion Research
(Affiliate)
Allan Reiman
Principal Research Physicist
(Affiliate)

Allan Reiman is a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) and a Lecturer with Rank of Professor at Princeton University. He was the head of the Plasma Configuration Design Group for the National Compact Stellarator Experiment (NCSX) from 1997 to 2000.  He was Interim Head of the PPPL Theory Department…

Donald Spong
Theoretical/Computational Plasma Physicist
(Affiliate)

Donald Spong is a member of the Plasma Theory and Modeling Group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and an unfunded collaborator in the “Simons Finding Optimum Magnetic Fields with Hidden Symmetries” project. His interests are in energetic particle confinement/instabilities in stellarators, and in 3D design optimization. Don was involved…

Eve Stenson
Postdoctoral Fellow
(Affiliate)
Adelle Wright
Staff Research Physicist
(Affiliate)

Adelle Wright is a Staff Research Physicist in PPPL’s Theory Department, working on theory development and numerical simulation of magnetically confined plasmas for fusion energy. Her current research focuses on nonlinear magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) and stellarator theory.

Caoxiang Zhu
Staff Research Physicist
(Affiliate)