Lawrence Fellow Frederico Fiuza, who works in Livermore’s Physical and Life Sciences Directorate, is one of three recipients of the 2013 Ph.D. Research Award from the European Physical Society (EPS) Plasma Physics Division. Fiuza received the award for his doctoral thesis, “Multi-Scale PIC Simulations of High Energy Density Scenarios: From Laboratory to Astrophysics.” His research spanned several different topics, including multiscale particle-in-cell simulations of the fast-ignition approach to fusion burn and energy gain—work based on a hybrid algorithm proposed by Livermore physicist Bruce Cohen. (See the news brief in this issue.) He has also studied collisionless shocks and particle acceleration from laser–plasma interactions under laboratory conditions as well as Raman amplification of lasers in plasmas.
The Ph.D. Research Award honors work of exceptional quality in plasma physics by a graduate student in an EPS member state. The award is a key element of the Plasma Physics Division’s activities to recognize outstanding research by young scientists.
Dave Trombino, a nuclear engineer in the Global Security Principal Directorate, was honored with a certificate of appreciation from the U.S. Coast Guard for his efforts to develop radiation detection capabilities for law-enforcement agencies that patrol the San Francisco Bay. The award citation reads, “Your efforts facilitated the adoption of the region’s concept of operations plan for Preventative Radiation and Nuclear Detection, making the San Francisco Bay area law enforcement agencies among the first in the nation to use radiological source detection equipment for routine operations.”
Trombino was one of about a dozen members of the 40-member Northern California Area Maritime Security Committee honored for his work. The committee includes representatives from law-enforcement agencies; the ports of Oakland, San Francisco, and Stockton; industry; harbor pilots; and Bay Area ferry operators.