Don Spong
Fusion Plasma Theory And Simulation Senior Scientist
Oak Ridge, Tennessee, United States
Summary
👤
Senior🎓
Top SchoolDon Spong is a senior scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory with over four decades of experience in fusion plasma theory, simulation, and stellarator design, focused on energetic particle instabilities, 3D effects, and runaway electron physics. He combines deep theoretical expertise and computational physics—Monte Carlo methods, kinetic stability modeling, and optimization of quasi-symmetric/quasi-isodynamic stellarators—with hands-on simulation of turbulence and transport in non-axisymmetric devices. His work spans both foundational plasma physics and practical confinement system design for fusion energy, reflected in a sustained publication record and an H-index of 28. Based in Oak Ridge, TN, he also pursues interests in AI applications to plasma modeling and astrophotography, signaling a broader curiosity for observational and computational perspectives on space and solar physics.
10 years of coding experience
The University of ArizonaPh.D., M.S., Ph.D., M.S. at University of Michigan
English, German, Russian, Spanish
Github Skills (2)
macos2
x112
Programming languages (2)
Github contributions (4)
ORNL-Fusion/Stellgap
May 2016 - Oct 2021
Stellgap calculates the shear Alfvén gap structure for 3D configurations (stellarators, RFPs, 3D tokamaks)
Contributions:1 review, 13 commits, 3 PRs in 5 years 6 months
ORNL-Fusion/AE3D
May 2019 - May 2019
Contributions:1 push in 1 day
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