KATHLEEN AMM

Director, National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Tallahassee

Amm heads up the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, the world’s largest and highest-powered magnet lab and the only facility of its kind in the United States. She has led numerous outreach activities at conferences in the field for students and young professionals, established the IEEE Council on Superconductivity student fellowship and actively coached many across the community. She also helped to establish the Applied Superconductivity Education Foundation, a Maryland-based nonprofit that helps develop, support, retain and educate members of the superconductivity community at all stages of their career.

EDUCATION: University of Toronto (BS), Florida State University (Ph.D.)

FIRST JOB: Working at a summer camp for a couple of weeks (during high school). It was a camp at a local nature preserve where I worked with younger kids doing craft projects and teaching them about nature.

HOBBIES: Skiing and gardening. I love them both as they are an incredibly active means of meditation.

ALTERNATE CAREER: Neuroscientist or neurologist

MENTEE IMPACT: I had the pleasure of mentoring a man who is one of the world’s most brilliant electric machine designers. I encouraged him to become a leader in the machines group at GE and then provided career advice when he went to academia to lead the leading machines group in the U.S. By coaching him and letting him pursue his dreams rather than keeping him in my group, I helped him soar in his career.

INDUSTRY TREND: In the field of superconducting magnets, the development of compact fusion reactors and the compact fusion industry is an incredible development that will bring limitless energy to the world. Powerful superconducting magnets are needed to contain the plasma that creates limitless energy. I am very excited as the director of MagLab to be partnering with companies that are enabling the future of energy on Earth.