Assessment of Sandia's 2021 Pilot Program for Research Traineeships to Broaden and Diversify Fusion Energy Science: Development and Rapid Screening of Refractory Multi-Principal Elemental Composites for Plasma Facing Components

Technical Report · Sat Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 2022

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1855066· OSTI ID:1855066

Flicker, Dawn ^[1]; Carney, James ^[2]; Cusentino, Mary Alice ^[2]; Hattar, Khalid ^[2]; Steinkamp, Michael ^[1]; Treadwell, Larico ^[1]

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1. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
2. Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), Albuquerque, NM, and Livermore, CA (United States)

The Fusion Energy Sciences office supported “A Pilot Program for Research Traineeships to Broaden and Diversify Fusion Energy Sciences” at Sandia National Laboratories during the summer of 2021. This pilot project was motivated in part by the Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee report observation that “The multidisciplinary workforce needed for fusion energy and plasma science requires that the community commit to the creation and maintenance of a healthy climate of diversity, equity, and inclusion, which will benefit the community as a whole and the mission of FES”. The pilot project was designed to work with North Carolina A&T (NCAT) University and leverage SNL efforts in FES to engage underrepresented students in developing and accessing advanced material solutions for plasma facing components in fusion systems. The intent was to create an environment conducive to the development of a sense of belonging amongst participants, foster a strong sense of physics identity among the participants, and provide financial support to enable students to advance academically while earning money. The purpose of this assessment is to review what worked well and lessons that can be learned. We reviewed implementation and execution of the pilot, describe successes and areas for improvement and propose a no-cost extension of the pilot project to apply these lessons and continue engagement activities in the summer of 2022.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
• DOE Contract Number: NA0003525
• OSTI ID: 1855066
• Report Number(s): SAND2022-0569R; 702826
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY