Partnering to Improve Diversity in the Fusion Workforce

Abstract

The stated goal of the FES-RENEW funding solicitation is, 'to increase participation of underrepresented groups in FES's fusion and plasma science and technology research portfolio.'

The primary objective of this proposal is to provide opportunities for students from Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) to participate in summer-internship research in the Fusion Energy Division (FED) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). This proposal will initially focus on recruiting talented students from MSIs that are geographically regional to ORNL, (e.g. Fisk University in Nashville, TN; Lane College in Jackson, TN; and Tennessee State University in Nashville, TN) to maximize opportunities to interact between the students and ORNL staff outside of the summer internship period. Since the targeted MSIs do not historically have programs in fusion science, ORNL staff will provide introductory lectures on plasma science at the MSIs during the academic year. These lectures are intended to recruit students interested in fusion science and technology to apply for FES-RENEW sponsored summer internships (typically 10 weeks) at ORNL. The close collaborative relationship between ORNL FED and the University of Tennessee-Knoxville (UTK) will be leveraged, as part of this program. Many UTK graduate students participate in directed-PhD research at ORNL. A 1-week intensive course at UTK on plasma science and fusion technologies will initiate the summer internship, taught in partnership with UTK professors and ORNL researchers. This will enable FES-RENEW participating students (and faculty) to become familiar with graduate education opportunities relevant to fusion at UTK in Nuclear Engineering, Material Science, Mechanical Engineering, interdisciplinary research, etc. In this way, the ultimate objective of this program is to establish a sustained 'pipeline' of undergraduate students from the participating MSIs (currently underrepresented in fusion science), to graduate opportunities (e.g. at UTK and collaboratively at ORNL), leading to career paths in fusion (e.g. at ORNL), thereby accomplishing the stated goal of FES-RENEW 'to increase participation of underrepresented groups in FES's fusion and plasma science and technology research portfolio.'