The Physics of Heat — Nanoscale Thermal Transport & Fusion’s Toughest Engineering Problem Dr. Patrick Hopkins
About this episode
Dr. Patrick Hopkins discusses the intricacies of nanoscale heat transfer and its implications for fusion energy engineering.
Dr. Patrick Hopkins of the University of Virginia joins Priyanca Ford to explain how energy really moves through materials — one electron, phonon, and photon at a time. From the heat crisis that once threatened Moore’s law to cooling technology in the vacuum of space, he connects the science of nanoscale heat transfer to one of fusion’s hardest engineering challenges: managing enormous heat loads inside a reactor.
People in this episode
Host: Priyanca Ford
Guest: Dr. Patrick Hopkins
Topics covered
- nanoscale thermal transport
- fusion energy
- heat management
- engineering challenges
- energy transfer
Keywords
- thermal transport
- fusion reactor
- heat loads
- energy movement
- Moore's law
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: University of Virginia
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