Laboratory for Laser Energetics

Two local high school seniors have been named scholars in the prestigious Regeneron Science Talent Search for summer research projects they worked on at the University's Laboratory for Laser Energetics.

The non-profit organization Fusion Power Associates awarded its Distinguished Career Award to recently retired director Robert McCrory, as well as other awards to the Laboratory for Laser Energetics at their annual meeting.

Professor Robert L. McCrory, a physicist and scientific leader who has shepherded the University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics to international prominence during the past 35 years, will retire from the directorship on October 1.

Institutions including Cornell, Michigan, Princeton, and Stanford will join Rochester in developing an instrument to produce and study matter that exists under pressures far higher than either on or inside Earth.

Gilbert “Rip” Collins, formerly of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, will lead a multidisciplinary initiative in Rochester to study how atoms behave at extreme pressures.

His seminal contributions to the field helped attract graduate students to the Laboratory for Laser Energetics. He died February 5, 2017, at age 92.

Two local teens have earned recognition in the prestigious Regeneron Science Talent Search (formerly the Intel Science Talent Search) for research projects they carried out last summer at the University's Laboratory for Laser Energetics.

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz (right), joined by Senator Charles Schumer, made his first visit to the Laboratory for Laser Energetics yesterday. Moniz and Schumer met with researchers and toured the facility, which is seen as a driver for regional innovation and growth.

Terahertz (THz) waves are capable of sensing and imaging objects behind barriers, making them a promising tool for Homeland Security and other law enforcement agencies.

In a review of the state of the research in this field, Rochester physicist Riccardo Betti concludes the goal of realizing abundant, clean energy from inertial confinement fusion remains elusive, despite recent significant progress.