Future of Fusion - LLF Launches Fusion Fellowship
Meet Jacob Crouch
The achievement of ignition by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in December 2022 was groundbreaking. As the Lab continues to advance the decadal vision of fusion energy, public-private partnerships will be paramount. As a key philanthropic partner, LLF supports the National Ignition Facility (NIF) and other partners to advance fusion, with opportunities for private investment and in strengthening the fusion education and workforce ecosystem.
The Foundation strongly believes in creating pathways and opportunities for the next generation to work in fusion to fuel long-term success in the research space. This year, LLF launched an inaugural Fusion Fellowship experience for students to work on the NIF team at LLNL, Jacob Crouch was the first fellow!
Jacob is a third year PhD student in the School of Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering at the University of Oklahoma (OU). He has always been driven to understand the underlying principles that govern the world. Something as simple as the surface tension of water made him realize how fascinating the world was. And after studying atoms and molecules, he was certain he wanted to focus his education (and career) in STEM because the field allows the exploration of new ideas and hopefully brings about advancement that benefits mankind.
He acknowledges that STEM fields can pose significant challenges, and there might be moments when you find yourself struggling to comprehend the subject matter or feeling lost. He believes that almost everyone goes through this at some stage in their STEM exploration, and would encourage them to continue learning as much as possible and to follow their passion.
This summer during his fellowship, Jacob was working at LLNL in the NIF and Photon Science organization on A Survey of Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE) Power Plant Studies. This fellowship allowed him to learn about fusion energy and its potential as a limitless clean energy source, as well as the challenges that must be overcome to get there. The latest advances in IFE technologies and LLNL’s significant demonstrations of IFE have generated a heightened interest in moving towards a commercial nuclear fusion power plant. However, achieving that ambitious goal requires the evaluation of IFE approaches and concepts to better understand the path to economic fusion energy. With a team of lab scientists including Doug Larson, Tom Parham, MariAnn Albrecht, M. John Edwards, Tammy Ma and Vincent Tang, Jacob and his OU PhD advisor Bin Wang selected and evaluated eight key fusion-enabling technologies, comparing pilot plant designs to understand technology risks, advantages, and key research priorities. At the end of the summer, Jacob presented a poster of this work at IFSA, the International Conference on Inertial Fusion Sciences and Applications.
Having the opportunity to engage with scientists and engineers at LLNL and immerse himself in the Lab’s work environment, Jacob gained valuable insights into research and became certain that a national laboratory would be a great workplace for his future. The highlight of his fellowship was touring the NIF- an incredible experience!
Fun Facts about Jacob: He loves to program small games and tools, plays the B-flat Clarinet and occasionally writes his own music!
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