Michael E. Mauel

Michael E. Mauel

Professor of Applied Physics

Michael E. Mauel builds experiments to study high-temperature ionized gas, called plasma, and explores how strong magnetic fields guide plasma motion in the space surrounding Earth, at the surfaces of stars, and inside the cores of fusion energy reactors that may someday produce cleaner, healthier, and nearly unlimited power.

Plasma within these experiments have very high temperatures, more than 10 million degrees, and can become hotter than the centers of stars. Together with his students and collaborators, Mauel uses real-time systems to control how plasma mixes within the containment vessels, shapes magnetic bottles to better confine high pressure plasma, and launches electromagnetic waves to generate electrons that move through the plasma at speeds near the speed of light. He also identifies, images, and controls the instabilities that may destroy plasma confinement and inhibit fusion energy production.

Mauel’s current research interests include nonlinear turbulent transport in magnetized plasma, energetic particle modes, the relationship between laboratory and space plasma physics, and feedback techniques to control instabilities in advanced tokamak operating regimes. He injects currents, waves, and magnetic fields to reveal the processes that transform energy within the plasma, move particles across magnetic flux tubes, and generate flows.

Mauel received his doctorate from MIT in 1983 and joined the Columbia University faculty in 1985. He a fellow for the American Physical Society and served as a Jefferson Science Fellow in the U.S. Department of State. He received the Rose Award for Excellence in Fusion Engineering, Leadership Award from the Fusion Power Associates, the Teacher of the Year award from Columbia University’s School of Engineering and Applied Science, and Certificates of Appreciation from the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of State. He served as chair of the Division of Plasma Physics of the American Physical Society, chair of the Department of Applied Physics an Applied Math at Columbia University, chair of the U.S. Burning Plasma Council, and as chair of the NRC Plasma Science Committee. Mauel co-chaired the National Academics of Sciences Committee for a Strategic Plan for U.S. Burning Plasma Research (2019) and currently serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the Physics of Plasmas. In 2020, Mauel was named a lifetime Associate of the U.S. National Academies.

Research Areas

  • Astrophysics and Astronomy
  • Plasma Physics (Controlled Fusion)
  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)
  • Energy Science
  • Advanced Materials

Additional Information

  • Professional Experience
    • Professor, Applied Physics, Columbia University, 1995 –
    • Editor-in-Chief, Physics of Plasmas, 2016 –
    • Chairman, Dept. of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, 2000-2006
    • Associate Editor, Physics of Plasmas, 2003-2015
    • Associate Editor, Journal of Fusion Energy, 2014-2015
    • Associate Professor, Dept. of Applied Physics, Columbia University, 1990 – 1995
    • Assistant Professor, Dept. of Applied Physics, Columbia University, 1985 – 1990
    • Instructor, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, M.I.T., 1984 – 1984
  • Professional Affiliations
    • American Physical Society
  • Honors & Awards

    • Leadership Award, Fusion Power Associates, 2020

    • Associate of the U.S. National Academies, 2020

    • Jefferson Science Fellow, National Academies, U.S. Dept. of State, 2006-2007
    • Certificate of Appreciation, U.S. Dept. of State, 2007
    • Rose Award for Excellence in Fusion Engineering, Fusion Power Associates, 2000
    • Fellow, American Physical Society, 1995
    • Teacher of the Year, 1994, elected by Columbia’s School of Engineering Undergraduates
    • Certificate of Appreciation, U.S. Dept. of Energy, 1989
    • I.E.E.E. Fortesque Fellowship, 1978 – 1979
    • Guillemin Prize for undergraduate thesis in Electrical Engineering