Masaki Suenaga
of Bellport, a retired award-winning scientist at
Brookhaven National Laboratory and an adjunct professor
at Stony Brook University, died Feb. 13 at age 71.
On receiving an award for his work in September at the
Applied Superconductivity Conference in Chicago, Suenaga
said, "I feel fortunate that I've been able to do work
that I like and that my research has resulted in useful
technologies."
Suenaga's study of the superconductor niobium-tin helped
to lay the groundwork for the first high-temperature
superconductor power transmission cable system. That
system, installed last year by the Long Island Power
Auhority in Holbrook, allows for
the use of far less cable to conduct many times more
power than more traditional systems.
Born in Shimonoseki,
Japan, Suenaga moved to the United States after high school and attended
the University of California at Berkeley. There, he earned a bachelor of science
degree in electrical engineering in 1962, a master's
degree in engineering in 1964, and a doctorate in
metallurgy in 1969.
Yoko Suenaga, his wife, said
her husband loved reading, studying and
researching everything. "For instance," she
said, "before we'd go to Italy or Spain, he'd
borrow books and study their history and culture
... He was devoted to research, a never-ending
job ... his whole life."
Suenaga was diagnosed with leukemia about two
years ago, and retired from Brookhaven Lab about
that time, his wife said, but he maintained
office space at the lab, and continued to work
three days a week as a guest scientist.
He first joined Brookhaven Lab in 1969 as an
assistant metallurgist, moving up through higher
positions over the years until he became senior
metallurgist in 1983. He was an adjunct
professor of material sciences at Stony Brook,
and was honored in November by the lab with the
title of Senior Scientist Emeritus.
Diane Greenberg, a lab spokeswoman said in a
statement after his death, "The title is given
to BNL retired scientists ... who have made
particularly noteworthy contributions to the
Laboratory's reputation as a world-class
scientific institution."
In addition to his wife, of Bellport, he is
survived by his mother, Aiko Suenaga of
Shimonoseki; two sons, Ken of Yokohoma, Japan,
and Ben of Manhattan; and two grandsons.
Suenaga was to be buried in Japan.
A memorial service is tentatively planned for
next month on
Long Island.
http://www.newsday.com/news/obituaries/ny-lisuen216043808feb21,0,1977621.story
Brookhaven Lab Scientist
Masaki Suenaga Receives IEEE Award for Applied
Superconductivity Research
September 15, 2008
UPTON, NY — Masaki Suenaga, a retired metallurgist who remains an active researcher at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, has received the IEEE Council on Superconductivity Award for significant and sustained contributions to applied superconductivity. Originally referred to as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., the nonprofit IEEE is the world’s leading professional association for the advancement of technology. Suenaga received a plaque and $5,000 at the recent Applied Superconductivity Conference in Chicago.
“I am gratified that my peers appreciate my work,” Suenaga said. “I feel fortunate that I’ve been able to do work that I like and that my research has resulted in useful technologies.”
Superconductivity refers to the lack of resistance to the flow of direct electric current by certain materials at very low temperatures. Suenaga has spent much of his early career studying the superconductor niobium-tin, and his research resulted in a process to make the first industrial niobium-tin superconducting wire for use in high-field magnets, such as those used in particle accelerators and fusion reactors. His work also led to the production of a flat niobium-tin tape with low losses of alternating electric current (AC), which made possible Brookhaven Lab’s Power Transmission Project, a program that began in the 1970s to develop a viable and cost-effective means of transmitting large amounts of electrical power underground. This project laid the groundwork for the Long Island Power Authority installing the world’s first high-temperature superconductor power transmission cable system in Holbrook, Long Island, earlier this year. The new cable uses far less wire and yet conducts up to five times more power in a smaller right-of-way than traditional copper-based cables.
Materials become superconducting at different temperatures, and, as a part of his research, Suenaga used a powerful electron microscope at Brookhaven to view the microstructure of both low- (minus 430 degrees Fahrenheit) and high- (minus 280 degrees Fahrenheit) temperature superconductors, to see how they are formed and how they grow under varied conditions in order to improve their properties. Suenaga and colleagues, for example, found that substituting small amounts of titanium for niobium in the niobium-tin superconductor enables it to carry a higher current at higher magnetic fields, which are needed in large superconducting magnets. Suenaga also determined that AC losses could be minimized by modifying the surface of niobium-tin tapes in commercial production, a finding that made the Brookhaven Lab transmission cable possible.
Suenaga earned a B.S. in electrical engineering in 1962 and a Ph.D. in metallurgy in 1969, both from the University of California at Berkeley. He joined Brookhaven Lab in 1969 as an assistant metallurgist and worked his way through the ranks to become a senior metallurgist in 1983. He was honored with Brookhaven Lab’s Distinguished Research & Development Award in 1992, and he became a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2002. Suenaga retired in 2006, but he still works at the Laboratory on a part-time basis as a guest scientist. He is also an adjunct professor of materials science at Stony Brook University.
Number: 08-835 | BNL Media & Communications Office
