[남기고 싶은 이야기] Japanese team leader, I recommend Professor MIT

One day he was unexpectedly invited to experiment with nuclear fusion at the Princeton Institute of Plasma Physics (PPPL). It was a chance to work with Professor David Rose (1922-1985), director of nuclear fusion research at the Mbadachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Professor Rose found a young professor to activate the lab and his mentor, Dr. Shoichi Yoshikawa, of PPPL, recommended me. When Yoshikawa visited me and asked, "How would you like to go to the MIT Research Professor?" I was frankly surprised, but I was happy to have been recognized in the contest process. The two-year PPPL study became my postdoctoral research course.

The proposal to pioneer the field of "plasma turbulence research" was a fascinating task for Professor Rose, who was called the leader in nuclear fusion research. Plasma turbulence is a challenge for fusion. To generate a fusion reaction, a hot plasma must be trapped using a magnetic field. At this point, the center of the plasma is about 100 million degrees Celsius, but the edge is only 1,000 degrees, so the whole thing is unstable. For fusion, the plasma must remain unstable, but turbulence is created when it becomes stable. The removal of turbulence is the key to increase the efficiency of the melting.

Professor Rose was born in Canada and served as an artillery officer between the ages of 42 and 45 during the Second World War. He then specialized in industrial physics at the University of British Columbia. He obtained his PhD in Physics from MIT in 1950 and joined MIT in 1985 after working at Bell Labs. In addition, MIT is the world's best university in applied sciences and engineering. As a professor at MIT, I thought that if I had accumulated research and educational experiences with Dr. Rose, I would be able to contribute further to the development of my country. I willingly accepted the offer and headed for Cambridge, near Boston, Mbadachusetts. It's a city where MIT and Harvard are together.

In fact, there was another desire to study in the background of MIT. When I was at the Graduate School of Public Administration of the Seoul National University, I applied for a doctoral course at Harvard University School of Government and I received a letter d & # 39; admission. However, he lost his scholarship and went to study physics as a researcher in the state of Michigan. When I was a professor at MIT, I had the chance to study at a nearby government school, at Harvard University. The school, a school of world public policy, changed its name and went from 66 years to the Harvard Kennedy School, named after John F. Kennedy (1917-1963).

At that time, I was already father of three children. When I returned to South Florida, I was able to earn more than twice the salary of MIT as an badociate professor. In such a situation, going to Cambridge with the hope of a faculty experience at MIT and the Harvard Graduate School of Administration could be a self-centered decision not taking into account the family. I am always grateful to my wife who followed me and I am sorry for my children. "If a grain falls to the ground and corruption does not occur, the big tree can not grow." The advice of the first director of nuclear energy was still in my head.

Chae In-taek, international professional journalist, journalist Hwang Su-yeon [email protected]