Tariq Rafiq is a Research Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering & Mechanics at Lehigh University.
Prof. Rafiq is a nuclear fusion theorist and modeler, who has made contributions to the progress of controlled fusion plasma science in areas that contribute to the development of nuclear fusion as a practical energy source. He has developed physics-based fluid/kinetic hybrid energy, particle, and momentum transport models for magnetically confined plasmas that are used in whole-device simulations. He has conducted detailed computational studies to validate these models using tokamak fusion devices and to verify them against first-principle codes.
His modeling work allows for the identification of specific transport driving mechanisms and lays the foundation for defining and regulating transport in tokamaks. His studies have been used to investigate interactions between various related physical processes, model scenarios, enhance tokamak discharge performance, design new experiments, and extrapolate findings to future thermonuclear fusion devices such as ITER.
Prof. Rafiq has publications in journals such as the Journal of Nuclear Fusion, Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, Physics of Plasmas, Physica Scripta, Computer Physics Communications, Plasma Physics, Entropy, and Fusion Engineering and Design. Additionally, he has received multiple Department of Energy grants as both a principal investigator (PI) and co-principal investigator (co-PI).
