Kevin Woller after receiving his Science Doctoral degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) marched forward in his research work in great speed. During his study time he was supported by a long list of scientists, teachers and mentors in his work and studies. In the similar way also supported a lot of young scientists and researchers who were junior to him.
Woller says that to encourage him to come to the research work of fusion science was done by Physics professor Daniel Marble at Tarleton. During those days Professor Marble was working on composition of gun barrel alloy in an ion accelerator lab, which was established for the work of material analysis.
There the work of Kevin Woller was to set up in the lab a target chamber, which access remotely, that is, way from the lab. Woller always wanted that school students could have access to University level research work.
Woller took the task of keeping the accelerator conditioned during high voltage condition as well. For using and generating ion beams Woller started working on plasma. When plasma source started breaking and repair for it was required he became more familiar with the working of plasma and its properties.
The study of plasma brings a person closer to fusion said Woller. Earlier he was only interested in renewable energy sources like solar, wind and geothermal energies. Plasma study brought him closer to fusion as well as to MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC).
At MIT Woller graduated from the status of graduate students to mentor of undergrad students. Woller had a wide spectrum working knowledge on ion accelerators and this help him to mentor his colleagues and other junior students. He also helped undergraduate researchers with lab practices, working of accelerators and many other works.
This is the success story of Kevin Woller from a student to a dependable mentor in MIT.
Source: MIT News Office
By‑Alpana Saha
