Accomplished Physicist Joins WSU’s Spokane-based Applied Sciences Laboratory

SPOKANE, Wash. – Jon Weisheit, Ph.D., recently joined Washington State University as director of the Applied Sciences Laboratory, based in Spokane, and associate director of the Institute for Shock Physics.

A reception to introduce Weisheit to the community will be held tomorrow (Oct. 12) from 5 to 7 p.m. at WSU Spokane’s South Campus Facility, 412 East Spokane Falls Boulevard (next to the Bookie).

Recognized as a leader in the field of high energy density science, Weisheit is an expert in the areas of atomic and plasma physics and their applications in astrophysical environments, fusion energy experiments and thermonuclear explosions. He has more than 30 years of experience in research, management, and program development and evaluation at several prominent laboratories, including Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories and the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. Before joining WSU, he headed the Applied Physics Division at Los Alamos for three years.

The Applied Sciences Laboratory (ASL) is part of the Institute for Shock Physics (ISP), which was established in 1997 with the support of the Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration. The ISP is a multidisciplinary research organization that conducts fundamental research in shock-wave and high-pressure compression of matter. Its scientific activities involve understanding physical and chemical changes in solids and liquids under very large and rapid compression.

 A recent $6.5 million grant funded by the Office of Naval Research has enabled the ISP to establish the ASL at WSU’s Spokane campus. A contract research organization, the ASL aims to undertake a broad range of applied research activities of interest to federal government agencies and private corporations, including the development of commercial applications. It draws from experimental facilities based at WSU’s Spokane and Pullman campuses.

As director of the ASL, Weisheit will work to connect fundamental science and applied research. “My view of what the Applied Sciences Laboratory will do in the long run is to create a bridge between customer-driven contract research and the more fundamental research that is being done in Pullman, “ he said. He added that he hoped that the research done by ASL would benefit regional and local interests, in addition to serving the needs of national sponsors. “The idea of this lab is that, once it’s successful, it will actually engender new commerce for Spokane and the region.”

The ASL is the brain child of Yogendra Gupta, director of the Institute for Shock Physics and professor of physics, who was pleased to see Weisheit take up leadership of the organization.
“Jon Weisheit is a first-rate physicist who is nationally and internationally renowned for his achievements in high energy density science,” said Gupta. “In addition to his scientific expertise, Jon brings considerable research management and leadership experience, both in academic and non-academic settings. I have known Jon for over eleven years and hold him in high regard as a scientific leader. Having Jon Weisheit join us bodes well for the ASL and for Spokane. Jon and Janet Weisheit will be terrific additions to the Spokane community.”

Weisheit has held visiting scientist positions at the Max Planck Institute (Bonn, Germany); the University of California, Berkeley; and the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has lectured widely on his area of expertise and has published close to 80 articles in scientific and technical journals. Since 1981, he has been a fellow of the American Physical Society, an honor bestowed on members who have made advances in knowledge through original research and publication or made significant and innovative contributions in the application of physics to science and technology. He also serves on several advisory committees for the U.S. Department of Energy and its national laboratories.

Weisheit, who has served as professor and department chairman of space sciences at Rice University during the 1990s, holds a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from Rice. He has taught numerous physics and astrophysics courses—at both the graduate and the undergraduate levels—at Rice; University of California, Davis; Princeton; and Harvard.

About Washington State University Spokane
Washington State University Spokane is the urban campus of Washington State University, a land-grant research university founded in 1890. The campus features advanced studies and research in health sciences and health professions, the design disciplines, education, social and policy sciences, and science and technology. WSU is ranked by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education as a research extensive and doctoral-granting university.

Related Web sites:

Applied Sciences Laboratory https://www.asl.wsu.edu/

Institute for Shock Physics https://www.shock.wsu.edu/

News release on the establishment of the Applied Sciences Laboratory https://wsunews.wsu.edu/detail.asp?StoryID=4338

Announcement of the Applied Sciences Laboratory (PDF) https://wsunews.wsu.edu/Shock%20Physics2.pdf

WSU Spokane: www.spokane.wsu.edu