Professor Uri Shumlak's work on the Z-pinch to create nuclear fusion earns him an APS Fellowship.

A&A professor Uri Shumlak has been elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) for pioneering investigations of sheared flow stabilization of magnetohydrodynamics modes in the Z-pinch. In essence, he has developed a novel way to stabilize a plasma column without using the common method of magnetic fields, but instead uses the embedded axial flow of the plasma.

The ultimate goal of the Z-pinch work is dramatically more efficient production of both terrestrial power and propulsion for space travel.

The APS Fellowship is a distinct honor of recognition by APS peers. The criterion for election is exceptional contributions to the physics enterprise through outstanding physics research, important applications of physics, leadership in a service to physics, or significant contributions to physics education.

For more on Shumlak’s work at the UW, read about the latest breakthrough with the Z-pinch and check out the Computational Plasma Dynamics Lab and the Flow Z-pinch Experiments.

 The Flow Z-Pinch Lab has a new website and url. Visit it at https://sites.uw.edu/zpinchlab/.