ESP Biography



DAVID STROZZI, plasma physicist



Major: Physics

College/Employer: Lawrence Livermore National Lab

Year of Graduation: Not available.

Picture of David Strozzi

Brief Biographical Sketch:

I am a staff physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Lab, working on nuclear fusion at the National Ignition Facility. This is the world's most powerful laser, and is well on the way to achieving controlled fusion in the laboratory for the first time.

I'm not connected with Stanford. I taught a course on nuclear fusion and fission at MIT's ESP when I was a grad student there in 2005, and several at Standford Splash. I encourage students to contact me beforehand with questions and specific requests.



Past Classes

  (Clicking a class title will bring you to the course's section of the corresponding course catalog)

S980: Our friend the Nucleus: Fusion (and Fission) in Splash! Fall 2010 (Nov. 13 - 14, 2010)
Nuclear fusion powers the stars, Hydrogen bombs, and hopefully terrestrial power plants in our lifetimes. This course will *briefly* cover the fundamental physics behind why nuclear fusion releases enormous energy, and what conditions are needed to achieve it. We will then study human efforts toward controlled fusion for energy, via both magnetic and inertial confinement, as well as the workings of stars and bombs. I will limit the time spent on basics to ensure we get to the applications. If you've taken this course before and felt short-changed on apps, this time we'll get to them.


S458: Fusion: Our Friend the Nucleus: Fundamentals 1 in Splash! Fall 2009 (Oct. 10 - 11, 2009)
The basics of nuclear fusion, the process that powers the stars and maybe humankind one day. This class covers basic principles, such as energy, nuclear binding energy, the main fusion processes, and the conditions needed for fusion. Version "1" is for younger students. The follow-on class "Applications" will cover stellar and terrestrial fusion systems.


S459: Fusion: Our Friend the Nucleus: Fundamentals 2 in Splash! Fall 2009 (Oct. 10 - 11, 2009)
The basics of nuclear fusion, the process that powers the stars and maybe humankind one day. This class covers basic principles, such as energy, nuclear binding energy, the main fusion processes, and the conditions needed for fusion. Version "2" is for older students. The follow-on class "Applications" will cover stellar and terrestrial fusion systems.


S460: Fusion: Our Friend the Nucleus: Applications in Splash! Fall 2009 (Oct. 10 - 11, 2009)
Covers nuclear fusion in stars, nuclear explosives, and power reactor concepts. Magnetic- and inertial-confinement reactor schemes will be presented. This class is a follow-on to the "Fundamentals" (1 or 2) class. I will assume you know the material covered there for this class (with a brief reminder).


S299: Fusion: our friend the nucleus in Splash! Spring 2009 (Apr. 04 - 05, 2009)
This course explores nuclear fusion, which powers the stars and is actively being pursued as a human energy source. It also serves as a good topic to connect with basic physics ideas and human energy use.