Friday, September 23, 2022 Dennis Whyte on Recent Advances in Fusion Energy

At this meeting, Professor Dennis Whyte will describe Recent Advances in Fusion Energy including the development of new high magnetic field superconductor magnets and the launch of the SPARC fusion project outside Boston, whose goal is to demonstrate the viability of fusion this decade. The challenges to developing and deploying economic fusion will be highlighted.

Dennis G. Whyte is the Hitachi America Professor of Engineering, and director of the Plasma Science and Fusion Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A recognized leader in fusion research, especially in the magnetic confinement of plasmas, Whyte has paved an innovative and faster path to producing fusion energy. He leads the fusion project, SPARC — a compact, high-field, net fusion energy fusion device — in collaboration with private fusion startup Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS). The core of the SPARC project was formed over eight years ago during a design course led by Whyte to challenge assumptions in fusion. Many of the ideas underpinning the high-field approach — including the use of HTS for high-field, demountable magnets, liquid blankets, and ARC (a fusion power plant concept) — have been conceived of or significantly advanced in his design courses. Whyte has over 350 publications, is a fellow of the American Physical Society, and has served on panels for the National Academies, the United States government, and the Royal Society. In 2018 Whyte received The Fusion Power Associates (FPA) Board of Directors Leadership Award which is given annually to individuals who have shown outstanding leadership qualities in accelerating the development of fusion. Whyte earned a BS from the University of Saskatchewan, and an MS and PhD from Université du Québec.

Friday September 9th, 2022 - Jeff Hecht - Self Driving Cars

Jeff Hecht will speak on "Challenges of Self-Driving Cars, or it seemed like a good idea at the time," and it is a deliberately tongue in cheek title. The current wave of interest grew from DARPA challenges in the 2000s, and early successes stimulated interest from both startups and the rather beleaguered auto companies. The early demonstrations by Google's Waymo division and others showed that cars equipped with sensors and artificial intelligence software could drive themselves on clear, well-marked and well-maintained roads. Two visions emerged: self-driving robo-taxies by the likes of Waymo, Uber, and Ford, and high-tech electric cars for affluent suburbanites by Tesla and others. Urban environmentalists saw a path to a future of all-electric zero-emission cars. The past few years have shown it wasn't as easy as it looked. Teslas and Ubers caused fatal accidents and crashed into stopped fire trucks with lights flashing. Worries about safety grew, as did questions about what kind of environments were needed. How well could robo-cars drive in heavy rain or on icy roads? How well can they drive on busy city streets shared with cyclists, pedestrians, and delivery trucks? So far, we're learning that the best place for self-driving cars may be modern, well-marked divided highways -- but maybe not with motorcycles. And public acceptance remains unclear.

Jeff Hecht writes about science and technology for magazines including New Scientist, IEEE Spectrum, Laser Focus World, Optics & Technology News, Photonics Focus, and Nature. He also has written books including City of Light: The Story of Fiber Optics, and Lasers, Death Rays, and the Long, Strange Quest for the Ultimate Weapon. His interest in autonomous cars started with their use of laser radars for mapping the world around them, but he now follows the development of the technology and its limits.