David Ruzic

David Ruzic
Born
David Neil Ruzic

(1958-02-10) February 10, 1958 (age 68)
Alma materPurdue University, Princeton University
OccupationProfessor
Known forIllinois EnergyProf

David Neil Ruzic was a professor in the Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering (NPRE) and is currently the director of the Center of Plasma-Material Interactions at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He was the Abel Bliss Professor of Engineering until 2024. In 2020, he was awarded the Gaude-Langmuir Award by the American Vacuum Society. His Youtube Channel, Illinois EnergyProf has a total of 11.2 million views.

Education

David Ruzic earned his B.S. in Physics and Applied Mathematics at Purdue University in 1979. He went on to study Physics at Princeton University, earning his Ph.D. in 1984. At Purdue, he worked as a Professorial and Teaching Assistant. At Princeton, he was part of the Research staff at their Plasma Physics Lab.

Career

In 1984, David Ruzic began his career at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as part of the Graduate faculty for physics. In 1989, he became an Associate Professor for the Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering. Since then, Ruzic has acted as the Assistant Dean for the College of Engineering and the Associate Vice President of Administration for the University Administration.

In 1994, Ruzic became a Professor for the Department of Nuclear Energy. In 2004, he became the director of the Center for Plasma-Material Interactions (CPMI) at UIUC.

In 2014, CPMI, led by Ruzic, acquired a fusion machine from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics. After being disassembled in Germany, it was taken to UIUC and renamed HIDRA. This made UIUC one of the few universities in the world that had a fusion machine.

Ruzic launched the Illinois Plasma Institute (IPI) in conjunction with Research Park at UIUC in 2020. The purpose of IPI is to be a research initiative that brings together companies and develops new products and technology. IPI became partners with Tokyo Ohka Kogyo in 2020 and LyTen in 2021.

In 2021, the NPRE department at UIUC announced the David Neil Ruzic Undergraduate Scholarship. It was funded by friends, family, institutions, and past graduates.

Research

His research interests include experimental fusion research, plasma processing, and extreme ultraviolet sources.

Youtube

In October 2018, Ruzic began his Youtube channel, Illinois EnergyProf, which includes over 130 videos about renewable resources, fossil fuels, and nuclear energy, among other topics. As of October 2026, Illinois EnergyProf has 112k subscribers and 11.2 million total views.

Awards

References

  1. 1 2 3 Grainger Engineering Office of Marketing, and Communications. "David N Ruzic". npre.illinois.edu. Retrieved 2021-09-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. 1 2 3 4 Rizzo, Abby (2020). "2020 Gaede-Langmuir Awardee: David Ruzic" (PDF). AVS. Retrieved September 21, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. 1 2 "Illinois EnergyProf - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
  4. 1 2 MacIsaac, Dan (2019-12-23). ""Energy, the Environment and Everyday Life:" 130+ YouTube videos by The Illinois Energy Prof". The Physics Teacher. 58 (1): 78. doi:10.1119/1.5141987. ISSN 0031-921X.
  5. 1 2 "D. N. Ruzic". ieeexplore.ieee.org. Retrieved 2021-09-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ↑ Andruczyk, D.; Ruzic, D. N.; Curreli, D.; Allain, J. P.; HIDRA Team (2015). "HIDRA: Hybrid Illinois Device for Research and Applications". Fusion Science and Technology. 68 (3): 497–500. doi:10.13182/FST14-989. ISSN 1536-1055 – via Fusion Science and Technology.
  7. ↑ Kubetz, RIck. "Illinois receives plasma/fusion facility from German institute". news.illinois.edu. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
  8. ↑ Communications, Grainger Engineering Office of Marketing and. "LytEn joins IPI on $2.1 million deal". npre.illinois.edu. Retrieved 2021-09-24.
  9. ↑ Communications, Grainger Engineering Office of Marketing and. "Illinois Plasma Institute launches with $1.75 million investment from Japanese company". npre.illinois.edu. Retrieved 2021-09-24.
  10. ↑ Communications, Grainger Engineering Office of Marketing and. "Announcing the David Neil Ruzic Undergraduate Scholarship". npre.illinois.edu. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
  11. ↑ Ruzic, David N.; Allain, Jean Paul (March 2010). "Special Issue on Symposium on Fusion Engineering". IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science. 38 (3): 222–223. doi:10.1109/TPS.2009.2038986. ISSN 0093-3813.
  12. ↑ Nieto-Perez, Martin (September 2020). "Technical Committees: Fusion Technology" (PDF). NPSS News. pp. 5–6. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
  13. ↑ Communications, Grainger Engineering Office of Marketing and. "Spring 2019 Awards Roundup". npre.illinois.edu. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
  14. ↑ "CER-MAE Seminar: David Ruzic". cer.ucsd.edu. Retrieved 2021-09-24.
  15. ↑ "Plasma Science & Technology Division Plasma Prize". AVS. Retrieved September 21, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. ↑ "New Generation: Newletter for Alumni and Friends" (PDF). Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering Department. 2009. pp. 36–37. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
  17. ↑ "Honorary Knights – Knights of St. Patrick". Retrieved 2021-09-21.
  18. ↑ "David Ruzic". Fannie and John Hertz Foundation | Empowering Limitless Progress. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
  19. ↑ "fellows – Fusion Energy Division". Retrieved 2021-09-21.
  20. ↑ "APS Fellow Archive". www.aps.org. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
  21. ↑ Communications, Grainger Engineering Office of Marketing and. "David Ruzic promoted to Fellow grade in SPIE". npre.illinois.edu. Retrieved 2021-09-21.