LPPFusion, Inc. has hired Dr. Hamid R. Yousefi as Chief Research Officer. Dr. Yousefi has been collaborating remotely with LPP Chief Scientist Eric Lerner for the past seven years on Focus Fusion research and was one of the first scientists outside LPP to realize the potential of this approach. He was the first to develop, with colleagues in Japan, a particle-in-cell simulation code for modeling some aspects of the fusion reactions of hydrogen-boron fuel. Through these simulations he was able to show a number of mechanisms for both the heating of the plasma to the high energy needed for fusion and the acceleration of intense ion beams which have long been observed in the plasma focus. This work resulted in several papers in leading journals, such as Physics of Plasmas and Physics Letters A. He also carried out experimental studies of some of the obstacles to optimal plasma focus functioning, such as impurities from the anode. His published work on the optimal length of insulators in the DPF was used in the design of LPP’s FF-1 device. At the Plasma Physics Research Center (PPRC) in Iran, where he was an assistant professor, his efforts led to a number of new plasma focus facilities in Iran. He has participated actively in the collaboration for scientific publication between LPPFusion and the PPRC.
Dr. Yousefi is working in the United States, consistent with the US immigration and other legal requirements, under an O-1 visa, issued to scientists and other professionals who are outstanding in their fields.
As Chief Research Officer, Dr. Yousefi will assume principal responsibility for the experiments with FF-1, freeing Lerner for more work on the remaining theoretical problems of achieving practical fusion energy. “Of course we remain a small team, so I’ll continue to collaborate on the experiments and Hamid will collaborate on theory, but having the full-time work of a plasma physicist of his extraordinary ability and commitment will immensely help our project,” explains Lerner.
