AWARD: PPPL's Masaaki Yamada wins James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics

By Staff on Nov. 12, 2015, 4:12 p.m.

Masaaki Yamada, a Distinguished Laboratory Research Fellow at the U.S. Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), has been awarded the 2015 James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics for "fundamental experimental studies of magnetic reconnection relevant to space, astrophysical and fusion plasmas, and for pioneering contributions to the field of laboratory plasma astrophysics." Yamada, the principal investigator for PPPL's Magnetic Reconnection Experiment, will receive the award at the 57th annual meeting of the American Physical Society Division of Plasma Physics in Savannah, Georgia, later this month.

Related Stories

PPPL's Davidson to receive Maxwell Prize .

Ronald Davidson, a professor of astrophysical sciences at Princeton University and a physicist at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), has been awarded the James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics.  

PPPL scientists take key step toward solving a major astrophysical mystery .

Magnetic reconnection in the Earth and sun's atmospheres can trigger geomagnetic storms that disrupt cell phone service, damage satellites and blackout power grids. In a new paper, scientists at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and Princeton University have taken a key step toward understanding this unsolved problem in plasma astrophysics.

PPPL scientists bring mysterious magnetic process down to earth .

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) are recreating magnetic reconnection, one of the most common but least understood phenomena in the universe. The experiments seek to unravel the secrets of magnetic reconnection and ultimately provide benefits including improved prediction of solar outbursts and dangerous geomagnetic storms; increased understanding of the formation of the sun and stars; and greater control of the nuclear fusion reactions that PPPL researchers are studying as a clean fuel for generating electric power.

Fisch receives Fusion Power Associates’ Distinguished Career Award .

Nat Fisch, associate director for academic affairs at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, and professor of astrophysical sciences and director of the Program in Plasma Physics at Princeton University, has received a 2018 Distinguished Career Award from Fusion Power Associates.

Professor of astrophysical sciences Harold P. Furth dies .

PPPL researchers honored .

Several researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have received honors and awards recognizing their contributions to the field. 

Princeton physicist Thomas Howard Stix dies
 .