In presenting the award at Erol's retirement luncheon March 22, FPA President Steve Dean said, "This Special Award is to recognize the many decades of dedicated guidance you have provided to the U. S. fusion program in general and, in particular, the assistance you have provided to the management and direction of the DIII-D tokamak program at General Atomics; your contributions to the strengthening of fusion international collaborations and to the evolution of ITER; and your assistance in guiding a coordinated U. S. Burning Plasma Physics activity." Dr. Edmund Synakowski, head of the OFES, also presented Erol with a DOE Distinguished Career Service Award on behalf of DOE Office of Science Director Bill Brinkman. Dean, who hired Oktay into the fusion office at what was then the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), also said, "On a personal note, I am happy to have played a role in attracting you to join the fusion program office in 1974 and congratulate you on "staying the course" through both good times and bad."

In response, Erol sent the following message to Fusion Power Associates:

Dear Steve:

I want to thank you and the FPA Board of Directors for your recognition of my contribution to the fusion program. It was a pleasure to receive the award from you at my retirement luncheon yesterday at Gaithersburg. You recruited me to then the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) in 1974, when the fusion program was being expanded in response to the oil embargo in early 1970’s. I was quite excited to join the national program, while at the same time sad to leave behind my research at the University of Maryland. Our vision in AEC was to operate a fusion DEMO by the turn of century. We were on a roll towards this vision with increasing budgets and plans for construction of PDX and Doublet III, and laying the ground work for TFTR at PPPL. I remember attending the review of TFTR design in the summer of 1974, while waiting for my security clearance to start my employment at AEC.

It has been an exciting and rewarding journey since then, with many projects, program reviews, scientific and technical discoveries, budget fights, and some frustrations and disappointments. In my 36 years of work at AEC-ERDA- DOE, I had the privilege to work in almost all magnetic confinement programs starting with theta pinches, Z-pinches, mirrors, tokamaks, and several alternate concepts at almost all fusion laboratories including PPPL, ORNL, LANL, LLNL, SNLA, and General Atomics. It has been a great pleasure to be the DOE manager for the DIII-D program for the past 25 years. I have learned much from the DIII-D program.

While we still have not achieved the vision we had in those early days, there has been indeed much progress in fusion research, leading to the design of ITER and establishing the ITER Agreement. We have to recognize that developing fusion energy is more complex than we anticipated in 1970s, and technical and engineering challenges are daunting. The program needs steady and large budgets. We have to overcome the technical and management complexities and challenges and insure the success of ITER as the next critical step towards fusion energy. In addition to making sure that the ITER Project is completed within its current cost, schedule, and cost baselines, there needs to be in parallel a highly focused supporting technical program to prepare for its scientific exploitation. It has been a great satisfaction for me to have the opportunity to contribute to the formation and growth of the U.S. Burning Plasma Organization which is very well poised to provide such support for ITER.

One of my highest satisfaction over these long years has been my involvement with international programs and collaborations. I became a strong believer in international collaborations in fusion research from the early days of my job as a program manager. The broad perspective that the program management provides taught me the importance of close collaboration and coordination to resolve many complexities in fusion research. It has been a privilege for me to be engaged with the ITER Physics Expert Groups starting in late 1980s, and then contributing to the formation and development of the International Tokamak Physics Activity (ITPA). Having served as the Acting Director of ITER and International Division for the past 5 years, my role in international collaborations has flourished more, including engagements with IEA Fusion Power Coordinating Committee, IAEA International Fusion Research Council (IFRC), ITER Science and Technology Advisory Committee, (STAC), and bilateral collaborations with all ITER Members.

With all these activities over 36 years in AEC-ERDA-DOE, I had the opportunity to work with many of FPA Board Directors in different roles and settings. It has been a wonderful experience to be a part of this unique international community. Of course I appreciate the opportunity and trust given to me by the fusion office in AEC-ERDA-DOE to lead many activities in a variety of programs. I will indeed miss the excitement and hope for success that is prevalent in fusion research, and especially in ITER.

Finally, I have appreciated the contributions that FPA has made to the fusion endeavor over the years, promoting fusion among stake holders in industry, government, and congress. The annual FPA meetings have been a good source information on the progress being made in fusion energy.

Thank you again, Erol

Erol can be reached at eoktay@comcast.net