Everyone from the University of Tennessee knows who to contact if they visit the DIII-D Fusion Facility at General Atomics in San Diego, California.
Jun Ren is the ambassador of UT at DIII-D, which is the largest magnetically confined fusion experiment in the nation. The Research Assistant Professor for the Department of Nuclear Engineering has been stationed in San Diego for the last eight years since joining the research group of Zinkle Fellow and Associate Professor David Donovan.
Along with doing research and running experiments, Ren helps any faculty members on their DIII-D visits, mentors Tickle College of Engineering students sent to San Diego, and generates goodwill for the university through collaborations with other researchers, engineers, and companies.
“Dr. Ren has consistently proven himself to be an excellent scientist and engineer through the many experiments he has planned, diagnostics he has built, and publications he has led,” Donovan said. “I have been told repeatedly by our colleagues at DIII-D how Jun can always be relied upon to go above and beyond in his research and how generous he is with his time to help others also achieve success with their own experiments.”
Ren maintains and operates the existing Surface Eroding Thermocouple (SETC) in DIII-D and is developing the SETC for modular divertor. He also investigates divertor detachment physics and analyzes heat flux profiles related to the SAS-VW (V-closure with tungsten surface) experiments.
“It’s very exciting to be working on projects that bring a lot of smart individuals from all over the world to work together for the same goal,” Ren said. “It really matters about human beings, about energy, and about the future.”
Feeling Included at UT
Before joining the UT faculty, Ren obtained his bachelor’s degree in metallurgical engineering at Northeastern University Institute of Materials and Metallurgy and his PhD in plasma physics from the Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Despite working across the country from the Knoxville campus, Ren has always felt constant support from his colleagues at UT.
“We have a weekly meeting when I update everyone on what is going on here. They always ask me if there is anything they can do to help fulfill my career and my goals here at DIII-D,” Ren said. “Although I am by myself here, I never feel alone. I know our UT team is always behind me.”
Donovan and the NE faculty regularly send students to DIII-D and trust they are in good hands with Ren, who strives to “make them feel like they are not just a guest but are a part of the team.” He goes out of his way to provide anything they need to reach their research goals.
“Jun has served as an outstanding mentor to these students by working with them on their research, introducing them to members of the community, and generally helping navigate this state-of-the-art experimental facility,” Donovan said. “Our fruitful collaborations with DIII-D and the multiple student theses and publications that have resulted from this work is thanks in no small part to Dr. Ren’s long record of research excellence and generous spirit of cooperation that he has fostered.”
Building a Better Future
As the father of two young boys, Ren wants to help the next generation discover the importance of the work being done at DIII-D. One if his sons was recently surveyed in class about what he wanted to do in the future. He responded: “Be a YouTuber.”
Although Ren understood, he wished the answer was something more related to science. A few weeks later, his son attended an open day at DIII-D when kids receive a tour of the facility.
“He learned a lot about fusion technologies and knew what his father was doing every day at work,” Ren said. “Once they did the survey again, his answer was different. He said he wants to work on the DIII-D to help humans build an artificial sun on the earth to generate power for everyone. He became proud of me, and of course I was proud of his choice.”
Ren knows his role at DIII-D goes beyond just his faculty title. He is representing UT on many different levels. Over the last eight years in San Diego, he’s learned how much the university’s long history of nuclear engineering research and contributions to the field are appreciated.
“UT has a very good reputation here,” Ren said. “I try to help out for other projects at DIII-D outside of UT’s projects to help build up the reputation even more. UT is definitely known as a top tier institution in fusion research.”
Contact
Rhiannon Potkey (865-974-0683, rpotkey@utk.edu)