Mark Kushner Appointed Distinguished Lecturer of Plasma Physics

Prof. Mark Kushner has been appointed a 2016 Distinguished Lecturer for the Division of Plasma Physics of the American Physical Society. Through the Distinguished Lecturer Program, Prof. Kushner will share his own research as well as broader trends with the larger academic and scientific community. He will speak on the topic, Low Temperature Plasmas for Converting Renewable Electricity into Chemical Reactivity: Microelectronics, Environment, Healthcare.

Mark Kushner is the George I Haddad Collegiate Professor of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science. He is also a professor of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences, Applied Physics, and Chemical Engineering. He is Director of the Michigan Institute for Plasma Science and Engineering (MIPSE), Director of the Graduate Certificate Program in Plasma Science and Engineering, and Director of the Dept. of Energy Plasma Science Center.

He leads the Computational Plasma Science and Engineering Group (CPSEG), which develops computer simulations of low temperature plasmas and technologically important devices which use low temperature plasmas. These simulations are used as both a method of investigating the basic physical processes which occur in low temperature plasmas, and as Computer Aided Design (CAD) tools for the design of plasma equipment. Several of the computer modeling platforms developed by his research group are used internationally by industry, universities and national laboratories.

Prof. Kushner is a member of the National Academy of Engineering.  He has received many awards from professional societies and industry groups, including the American Physical Society, IEEE, the American Vacuum Society and the Semiconductor Research Corporation.

About the Distinguished Lecturer Program

The Division of Plasma Physics (DPP) of the American Physical Society established the Distinguished Lecturer Program to share with the larger scientific community the exciting recent advances in plasma physics.

Under the Plasma Physics Travel Grant Program funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, the DPP Lecturers are available for talks at U.S. colleges and universities for the academic year. Their travel expenses will be supported by the grant. No travel-related expenditure is expected from the lecture-hosting institution.