USTAR-backed Innovator Wins 2010 Governor’s Medal for Science and Technology
W. Farrell Edwards, a USU scientist pursuing plasma fusion confinement research with the assistance of USTAR, was awarded a Governor’s Medal for Science and Technology, Tuesday, Jan. 5. Edwards was the awardee in the Science Education category for his research and teaching spanning fifty years at USU.
Edwards, a professor of physics, has received recognition as College of Science professor of the year (1972) and University professor of the year (1977). As one of the recipients of a Governor’s Medal, Edwards was recognized for his contributions to teaching.
Edwards’ career in physics spans the decades. In 1960, he received his doctorate from the California Institute of Technology where he specialized in low-energy nuclear physics. In 1963, he published a modification of Einstein’s “Special Theory of Relativity”—the paper was selected in 2001 as a chapter in 100 Years of Relativity, a book that commemorates 100 years of Einstein’s theory. Early in his career he helped establish the Space Dynamics Laboratory at USU.
W. Farrell Edward and Tokamak
In the late 1980s, while performing an experiment to verify the fundamental laws of electromagnetism using low temperature superconductors, Edwards was drawn to a phenomenon in the ionosphere of the planet Venus, a reaction similar to one exhibited in superconductors. Edwards began working on a new method of confining gas heated to fusion temperatures—a process that happens in the center of the sun.
Edwards and physicist E. D. Held, associate professor of physics at USU, developed a theory to explain this phenomenon. After receiving one-time funding from the Utah Science Technology and Research (USTAR) initiative and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Edwards and plasma physicist A. K. Singh obtained a small tokamak, a fusion confinement device, to verify this theory.
Often referred to as the fourth state of matter, plasma is a collection of charged particles that make up a large fraction of the matter in the universe. Edwards, Singh, who has studied fusion containment for several decades in India and China, and others at USU are investigating a new way to use magnetic fields to confine plasma long enough to use its energy and neutrons. When enough heat is applied in this process, nuclear fusion occurs. This USU patent-pending technology could be used to examine luggage in airports and provide energy to run industry and heat homes.
“The work we are doing at Utah State with the support of USTAR and the U.S. government has great commercial potential,” said Edwards. “I am delighted I’ve been selected as a recipient of a Governor’s Medal for the work I’ve done in the past and look forward to more years of teaching and contributing to the training of the next generations of scientists and engineers, and developing devices that will impact Utah’s economy for years to come.”
Gov. Gary R. Herbert and the State Science Advisor Tami Goetz along with the State Advisory Council on Science and Technology presented Edwards his award for Science Education in a ceremony held in the Discovery Gateway Children’s Museum Tuesday evening.
The Governor’s Medal award program was initiated in 1987 to recognize those who made career achievements and have provided distinguished service that has benefited the state of Utah in the areas of Science and Technology. Historically these medals are awarded to individuals and companies who have made significant contributions to the furthering of scientific knowledge, education and industry in Utah and the nation.
General criteria are required of all nominees, which include full-time residency and demonstrated accomplishments in the fields of science, engineering technology or technology management. Strengths of accomplishments are considered in light of the merit and uniqueness of the achievement, the results of peer review and recognition, social impact and public service, economic benefit to the state of Utah and public awareness impact. Awardees are chosen in categories of academia, science education, industry and government.
