17 year old Ethan Dunsworth from Holt High School, Wentzville, Missouri USA, reached out to HB11 M.D. Dr Warren McKenzie earlier this year asking for assistance with a research project and if Warren “… would be interested in mentoring me?”
Ethan was inspired to contact HB11 after reading some of our publications. In his words, he was keen to explore ways of “… optimising the energy-efficiency of your HB11 reactor”. Dr McKenzie quickly recognised Ethan’s acumen and potential and offered to give him what assistance time allowed. Together they narrowed down the scope of his project, identified some avenues for future exploration and decided that Ethan should conduct research using physical simulations.
That project became ‘Efficiency of Laser-Induced HB11 Fusion Reaction Under Varying Methods of Kilotesla Magnetic Confinement’ and led to Ethan receiving the Air Force Research Award and Navy Research Award in the U.S.
Ethan is a very bright teenager. Ranked top of his class academically with a score of 1540 on the SAT, he’s also a Finalist in the 65th Annual National Merit Scholarship Program. The Finalists form a group of less than 1% of all American high school seniors. Selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments and potential for success in rigorous college studies, they now have the opportunity to continue in the competition for over 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $31 million that will be awarded next spring.
As Dr McKenzie stated: “Ethan is an exceptionally gifted young man… someone who can make a real and positive difference in our world. I’d like to think he will help HB11 to write the future.”
Ethan also placed 1st at the High School Honors Division of Missouri’s Tri-County Regional Science and Engineering Fair in February and has been a part of Scholar Bowl, the National Honor Society (NHS) and Future Business Leaders of America. He’s now been selected to attend Missouri Boys State College, where he plans to study physics – specifically plasma, nuclear physics and energy engineering.
It seems Prof. Hora’s legacy and the future of science is in good hands.
