John Howard

Professor John Howard is a faculty member in the Department of Materials Physics at the Australian National University (ANU), serving as head of the Plasma Research Laboratory and leader of the Experimental Plasma Science group. His career spans over three decades of plasma diagnostics and fusion research, with significant industry collaborations in remote sensing.

His educational background includes a BSc (Honors Class I with Medal) and PhD in Plasma Physics from the University of Sydney (1983), followed by research at UCLA's Department of Electrical Engineering before returning to ANU in 1989.

Research focuses on advanced diagnostic methodologies with practical applications:

• Plasma Diagnostic Systems: Non-invasive measurement techniques for fusion plasmas
• Inverse Methods: Tomographic reconstruction of plasma parameters
• Toroidal Confinement Physics: H-1 heliac device research
• Coherence Imaging: Real-time optical diagnostics deployed globally

Professional recognition includes:

• Fellowship of the Institute of Physics
• 2012 Australian Innovation Challenge finalist for coherence imaging systems

Research leadership encompasses $2.5M+ in grants since 2008, supervision of 20+ PhD/MPhil students and 10 honours students, 8 international conference invited talks, and editorial service for Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion. He organizes the biannual Japan-Australia Plasma Diagnostics Workshop series and serves on international review committees.

The Plasma Research Laboratory under his direction since 2009 drives experimental fusion research through the Experimental Plasma Science group, with ongoing development of diagnostic technologies for next-generation fusion devices.