The following is a summary of my experience in PlasmaSurf 2024, organized
by the IPFN. PlasmaSurf took place in Lisbon between the 14th and 20th of
July, and it was truly an amazing experience. We stayed at the youth hostel
of Almada, a beautiful neighborhood just accross the Ponte 25 de Abril. The
views from the hostel were mesmerizing, as you could see the bridge and
the lights of the city from our windows. We were welcomed by Ricardo, our
wonderful guide and organizer, who made sure that everyone had the best
possible time during the week.
Each day was organized more or less the same way. We had three lectures
in the morning/ afternoon with a lunch break in between and at 15:30 the
bus was ready to take us to the outdoor activities. Throughout the week we
had climbing lessons, surfing lessons, a kayak route in Cascais ad we even
tried out mountain boarding near Sintra, as well as a visit to the IPFN fusion
research facilities. It was defintively a non-stop week with lots of fun and
enjoyment.
For me personally, as an electrical engineer working in fusion research, it
was very enriching to assist to the many lectures we had on such diverse
plasma-related topics, such as computational modelling of plasmas, cold
plasma technologies, intertial and magnetic confinement, lasers and their
interaction with plasmas... I got to learn a lot about the basics of plasma
physics, which obviusly I lack due to my background, and got new and
refreshing perspectives to continue to carry out my work at the SMART
Tokamak project of the University of Seville.
But the best thing I got from PlasmaSurf were the people I met. We were
about 40 young students, from all kind of backgorunds and nationalities,
and at the end of the week I felt that we all created a bond that will last for a
long time, because we all shared the same passion for plasma, applied
physics and engineering, and science in general. It was wonderful to
connect with so many peers, of which I am sure many of them will be future
colleagues, and share the amazing experience this week was. Thank you
PlasmaSurf!
