Please join us on Friday, October 10 for our next HEMI Seminar.
Speaker: Jason R. Trelewicz1,2,3
1Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stony Brook University
2Institute for Advanced Computational Science, Stony Brook University
3Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Title: Fusion Energy Materials: Challenges, Status, and the US Roadmap
Abstract: With the Bold Decadal Vision for Commercial Fusion Energy, scientific and technical materials innovations have been thrust to the forefront of critical needs if the community is to succeed along this ambitious timeline toward fusion pilot plant demonstrations. The fusion environment inevitably exposes materials to high heat, neutron, and particle wall loading that collectively induce damage in plasma facing, structural, and blanket materials, ultimately limiting their operational lifetimes. A fundamental understanding of the synergy between plasma, neutron, and thermal loading under fusion-relevant conditions, and its implications for materials stability and performance, are key scientific drivers for future innovations in fusion materials. In this presentation, the challenges and status of structural and plasma facing materials are first reviewed in terms of knowledge gaps and technological maturity for the fusion environment. Based on a comprehensive needs assessment, the U.S. fusion materials research community structured a technology roadmap with key near-term R&D priorities identified to accelerate the advancement of materials towards fusion pilot plant development and support the growing private fusion industry. The key findings for near-term materials R&D priorities from this roadmap will be summarized for plasma-facing components and structural materials with a focus on research objectives aligned with the goal of maturing each material to a technology readiness level of TRL 6-7 for subsequent industry handoff and pilot plant construction.
Bio: Dr. Jason Trelewicz is a Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering and the Institute for Advanced Computational Science at Stony Brook University with a joint appointment in the Materials Science and Technology Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. His research group, the Engineered Microstructures and Radiation Effects Laboratory, explores the science of interface engineered materials from the atomic and nanoscale to collective responses of tailored microstructures at extremes leveraging advanced processing and characterization tools coupled with multi-scale modeling. Professor Trelewicz received his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2008. Prior to joining the faculty at Stony Brook University, he spent four years as Research Director at MesoScribe Technologies, Inc. responsible for managing the development of sensor technologies produced by additive manufacturing processes. Professor Trelewicz was selected for the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Scholarship and Creative Activities in 2025, received the 2017 DOE Early Career Award and 2016 NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award, and was recognized by Long Island Business News Power 25 in Education as a Top Innovator in Energy Research in 2021. Professor Trelewicz serves as a Review Editor for Frontiers in Nuclear Engineering, Past Chair and JOM Advisor for the TMS Nuclear Materials Committee, Board of Review Member and Key Reader for Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, and Chair of the Tungsten Alloys Working Group for the International Energy Agency Fusion Materials Technology Collaboration Program.
