Hello, I am Wouter Arts. I am currently doing my master thesis at the Fusion group. The thesis is the final part of my Applied Physics education on the TU/e.

For as long as I can remember I have been interested in the world around me, especially in the question: how does it work? Therefore I chose to study Applied Physics, first at the Fontys (a non-academic university) where I got my bachelor degree. After that I went on to get my master degree at the TU/e. Growing older I got more interested in how I can apply my knowledge into helping to solve major, global problems. After I took an introductory class of Prof. Lopes Cardozo on fusion engineering, I noticed that perhaps I could help in the global struggle to solve the energy crisis, by joining the fusion group.

My research focuses on a new concept for the so-called first wall in a nuclear fusion reactor. This wall is constantly under the bombardment of neutrons and especially in the divertor region the heat loads are huge. In these conditions most materials fail, only carbon and tungsten are under the consideration of being used as a solid wall.

To overcome the problems of a solid wall, liquid wall concepts have been proposed. To develop a concept for a liquid metal divertor, I am developing simulations which can simulate such a wall. These simulations are made using a simulation program called COMSOL. With this tool, I study the heat transfer in magnetohydrodynamical flows.