July 1, 2022
Austin, July, 2022 – Dr. Pravesh Patel has joined the team of scientists at FocusedEnergy as Scientific Director. The young company aims to use laser-based fusion to bring the power of the sun to Earth to produce clean, safe, and nearly inexhaustible energy. To do this, Focused Energy is recruiting the best and most experienced laser fusion researchers in the world.
Dr. Patel spent more than 20 years at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence LivermoreNational Laboratory (LLNL), the world’s leading laboratory in inertial fusion research. He served as the Group Leader for High-Intensity Laser-Plasma Physics and Associate ProgramLeader in the Fusion Energy Sciences Program. In 2008, he established a research program at LLNL to develop the scientific basis for the fast ignition approach to high-gain inertial confinement fusion.
Breakthrough in laser fusion achieved
In 2014, Dr. Patel was appointed Program Element Leader in the Inertial Confinement Fusion(ICF) Program. He led several groups in theory, simulations, and analysis, in the campaign to achieve ignition on the National Ignition Facility (NIF), the world’s largest and most energetic laser. Last year, the team succeeded in demonstrating, for the first time, controlled fusion ignition in a laboratory – a breakthrough scientific achievement for fusion energy.
"We are very pleased to welcome Prav Patel to our team," said Thomas Forner, CEO atFocused Energy. "As Scientific Director, Prav will bring his knowledge and expertise to helpFocused Energy achieve net fusion energy gain, through the advanced concept of proton fast ignition, and move us closer to commercialization of this energy source."
Groundbreaking research
Dr. Patel's research has included groundbreaking work in the field of proton fast ignition. He performed the first experimental demonstration of ultrafast proton heating of solid density matter, and of ballistic proton focusing. His discoveries have been used and cited by numerous research groups worldwide.
Dr. Patel received the Excellence in Fusion Engineering Award from Fusion PowerAssociates in 2010. In 2012, he was the organizer and conference chair of the international meeting on fast ignition. He has published over 275 scientific papers, and in 2013, was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society.
About Focused Energy
Focused Energy is a German-American company spun off from the Technical University of Darmstadt in 2021 that will enable safe, clean and virtually inexhaustible energy production through laser-based nuclear fusion in just a few years. The young company is based in Darmstadt and in Austin/Texas and employs the best minds from relevant research institutes and universities in Europe and the USA. Focused Energy uses the experience of its founders gained over the past 30 years in fusion research, coupled with the speed of a young German-American company and private investment, to bring laser-based fusion to market and satisfy the world's hunger for energy.
Press Contact
RLYL Inc.
Maija McManus
Email: FocusedEnergy@rlyl.com
Phone: + 1 617 413 7841