Not yet, Thomas, 18, discovered – but possibly soon. In the movie, the mini-reactor supposedly uses clean energy to power Iron Man’s suit.
Currently, scientists around the world are working to perfect similar clean technology, called fusion energy.
Inspired by the film, Thomas worked with two other seniors, Forrest Betton and Demitri Hopkins, to build their own fusion energy device, a two-month project they were invited to show President Barack Obama during his Friday visit to Intel’s Hillsboro campus.
“It’s been amazing so far, and we’re not even done yet,” said Hopkins, 18.
The three seniors gave a five-minute presentation of their project to Obama in a private room at Intel and sat in the front row for the president’s speech on technology and innovation.
“He was really laid-back and relaxed,” Hopkins said.
Fusion energy has been touted as the world’s next crucial clean energy source that could dissolve radioactive waste and power cities without using coal or natural gas. Scientists have not yet been able to create a fusion energy machine that produces more power than the amount put in, according to the one of the world’s largest fusion projects, ITER.
So the three students took on the challenge from their school lab. For two months, twice a week, the students often stayed after school until 5 or 6 p.m. to test their device.
“We worked really hard, really fast,” Thomas said.
During one experiment under the supervision of Michael Mauck, a Portland State University research associate, the seniors were able to sustain a 15-second fusion reaction before it became too unstable.
After Obama’s visit last Friday, the three students rushed to the regional Intel science fair for the judging of their project. The trio won first place in the electrical and mechanical engineering category of the fair, which earns them a spot at Intel’s state science fair competition in April.
By then, they hope to include measurements of how much energy their device can actually produce.
“It works,” said Thomas. “We just have to get it to work better.”
The three seniors each plan to pursue engineering college degrees: Betton hopes to major in physics and biology, Hopkins would like to continue researching nuclear physics and Thomas wants to focus on high-energy engineering.
“I like how we can see that all the parts we’re learning about is just a part of a puzzle,” Betton, 17, said. “I like learning about everything as a whole and how stuff works.”