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Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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Remembering ANS member Gil Brown
Brown
The nuclear community is mourning the loss of Gilbert Brown, who passed away on July 11 at the age of 77 following a battle with cancer.
Brown, an American Nuclear Society Fellow and an ANS member for nearly 50 years, joined the faculty at Lowell Technological Institute—now the University of Massachusetts–Lowell—in 1973 and remained there for the rest of his career. He eventually became director of the UMass Lowell nuclear engineering program. After his retirement, he remained an emeritus professor at the university.
Sukesh Aghara, chair of the Nuclear Engineering Department Heads Organization, noted in an email to NEDHO members and others that “Gil was a relentless advocate for nuclear energy and a deeply respected member of our professional community. He was also a kind and generous friend—and one of the reasons I ended up at UMass Lowell. He served the university with great dedication. . . . Within NEDHO, Gil was a steady presence and served for many years as our treasurer. His contributions to nuclear engineering education and to this community will be dearly missed.”
S. Earney, R. Klasen, R. Santana, M. Weir, N. Langley, M. Hoppe, J. Murray, S. Pajoom, J. Williams, G. Lovelace, W. Sweet
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 79 | Number 7 | October 2023 | Pages 761-777
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2023.2184668
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Spherical targets with a smooth uniform surface are required for inertial confinement fusion experiments. This paper examines polishing as a method of decreasing the surface roughness of tungsten (W) capsules, chromium (Cr) capsules, SiCH [Si-doped glow discharge polymer (GDP)] capsules, and GDP-coated General Atomics–Carbon Hydrogen (GA-CH) foam beads. As expected, increasing the time spent polishing metal (W, Cr) capsules corresponded to decreasing roughness. Despite the decrease in overall surface roughness of Cr capsules, defects present in the batch initially were amplified through polishing. For SiCH capsules, increasing polishing time decreased the surface roughness, though the yield of usable capsules was affected by cracks induced through polishing. While polishing results for GDP-coated foam beads did not show consistent decrease in roughness, the polishing process did not result in the collapse of any of the foams, demonstrating the potential for polishing as a method of decreasing roughness.