It’s where Dennis Whyte’s father first helped nurture a love of science that would propel his son to his current role as director of the Plasma Science and Fusion Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
“I always wanted it to be some level of something that was practical or meaningful, or something you get your hands on,” he says. With a recommendation letter from Skarsgard, a less-than-stellar grasp of French and a Chevy Chevette, Whyte was off to Montreal to further his studies, pursuing a Master’s and eventually a Ph.D.
Dennis Whyte was born and raised in Shaunavon, Sask., and grew up to become one of the world’s leading researchers in the field of nuclear fusion. “The objects built to create the conditions started getting larger and larger in an effort to get plasma hotter, to the point where it was getting slower and slower to reach the goal.”Article content“Basically improved the cost-per-watt by, like, a factor of 40 overnight. Could be 30, or 40, some number like that,” he says.
“The Wright brothers flew, and everybody knew that flight was possible. But a practical airplane was still a ways away,” Whyte says by way of example. “We don’t stand too well for imposing titles, right?” he chuckles, suggesting he owes some of his style to the fierce independence coupled with community spirit that’s helped shape the Prairies.