Appendix 7.2
Report on the 19th Symposium on Fusion Engineering (SOFE)
P. Heitzenroeder, General Chair; L. Dudek, Program Chair
The 19th SOFE , originally scheduled for October 5-9, 2001, was postponed following
the tragic terrorist attacks of September 11. Thanks to the efforts of IEEE Conference
Services and the SOFE organizing committee and the much appreciated cooperation of
Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, NJ, the Symposium was able to be re-scheduled for the
week of January 21. This required making refunds to the 125 October registrants (which
IEEE accomplished in days of the decision to postpone!), working with Trump Plaza to
find a mutually agreeable new date, updating contracts, revising the meeting program,
and then advising potential attendees of the new Symposium dates and re-starting the
registration process.
The meeting maintained the original program format. The Symposium opened on the
evening of January 21with a reception sponsored by General Atomics. The meeting was
structured with plenary and oral sessions each morning followed by parallel poster and
oral sessions in the afternoons. Continental breakfast was provided each morning to help
assure a timely start of the morning sessions. Seventy-three percent of the 181 abstracts
that were originally submitted (133) were actually presented. There was a 36% / 64%
split between oral and poster presentations. There was a 58 / 42% split between LCD
and overhead projector for the oral presentations. (It should be noted that the LCD
projector was only supplied if asked). There were 130 attendees from 10 countries (UK,
Japan, India, Italy, Korea, China, Germany, France, Spain, Russia) in addition to the U.S.
On Wednesday afternoon, a special discussion meeting, entitled "The Future of
CAMAC" was held. The purpose of the meeting, which was organized by Dan Kellman
of General Atomics, was to initiate dialogue in the data acquisition and control
community regarding 'survival techniques' as CAMAC infrastructures age, become
obsolete or unsupported, and show their limitations in the light of newer technologies.
The hope is that this dialogue will continue at future conferences and meetings.
The SOFE Award Banquet was held on Wednesday evening, January 23. This year’s
recipient of the Fusion Technology Award was Joel H. Schultz of the MIT Plasma Fusion
Center in recognition of his many contributions to fusion engineering technology and
superconducting magnet technology. The South Philadelphia String (Mummer’s) Band
entertained the banquet attendees. Mummers are unique to the Philadelphia area and a
traditional part of New Years Celebration. Mummers dress in very colorful feathered
costumes and march with a unique strut while playing their string instruments for the day
long Philadelphia New Year's Day parade.
The fusion community is planning its second “Snowmass” meeting in July of this year. A
special Snowmass Town Meeting was held on Thursday evening during which a cross
section of the technical program leaders presented overviews of their plans and
schedules, followed by open discussions. The technical program concluded at noon on
Friday, January 25. Approximately 35 of the attendees took part in a PPPL-sponsored
bus trip to the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory Friday afternoon. The tour included
a visit to the TFTR Test Cell, where they were able to see the actual diamond wire cutting
decommissioning operations underway, and a visit to PPPL’s newest major experimental
device, the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX).
Total receipts for the meeting are $69,603. It is estimated that the 19th SOFE will have a
positive balance of approximately $10-15,000. after all expenses are paid.