George R. Tynan

Executive committee, Center for Energy Research

Principal investigator, PISCES Research Program

George R. Tynan is associate dean of the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering and a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

Tynan's current research is focused on the plasma physics of controlled nuclear fusion as an energy source. He studies the fundamental physics of turbulent transport in hot confined plasmas using both smaller scaled laboratory plasma devices as well as large scale fusion experiments located around the world. In addition, he is investigating how solid material surfaces interact with the boundary region of fusion plasmas, and how the materials are modified by that interaction.

He is also interested in the larger issue of transitioning to a sustainable energy economy based upon a mixture of efficient end use technologies, large scale deployment of renewable energy sources, and incorporation of a new generation of nuclear technologies such as advanced fission and fusion reactor systems. He is preparing a textbook on these topics to introduce science and engineering students to this critical issue. He is on the executive committee for the UC San Diego Center for Energy Research.

Tynan received his Ph.D. in 1991 from the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles. He spent several years studying the effect of sheared flows on plasma turbulence on experiments located in the Federal Republic of Germany and at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. He then worked in industry developing plasma sources for use in investigating the creation of nano-meter scale semiconductor circuits, and joined the UC San Diego faculty in 1999.