Neel Mehta
A new batch of General Atomics summer interns has completed the Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship program that the Energy Department‘s office of science has financed as a program sponsor.
The company said Friday 10 interns worked at its DIII-D magnetic fusion energy facility and inertial fusion technologies program to support the advancement of fusion as a safe, non-carbon emitting source of energy.
Students under the program also had the opportunity to work with mentors, produce research that could be featured at scientific conferences across the U.S. and gain experience to eventually become potential mentors to future interns, General Atomics added.
“The majority of the students who have done summer internships here have gone onto careers in science and engineering, and many of those have continued to work in the field of energy research,” said Robert Pinsker, a physicist at General Atomics and SULI program manager.
He added that SULI helps provide students who consider taking up graduate studies a better understanding of plasma physics and fusion that are not present in most undergraduate curricula.
“The long-term goal of the more than 60-year-old international effort to develop controlled fusion on earth is to find a new safe, emission-free, virtually inexhaustible energy source to power the future global economy,” Pinsker said.
The 2016 batch of interns include students from colleges such as Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of Illinois.
General Atomics said its 25-year internship program in the areas of fusion and plasma physics seeks to inspire future physicists and nuclear engineers.
