LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Researchers at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas are at the forefront of finding new clean energy production. Their discovery in the science behind superconductivity will power the future of Southern Nevada.
UNLV honored Dr. Kieth Lawler with their Top Tier Award for his 2020 discovery of superconductivity wires and his work in the community.
"I'm not much one for accolades or adorning," Dr. Lawler said. "I'm already running calculations on the next thing."
Dr. Lawler and his team in the Nevada Extreme Conditions Laboratory discovered a new way for storing and transmitting energy. It's a breakthrough in the more than 100 years of superconductivity research. In an experiment, one of Dr. Lawler's colleagues, Dr. Dean Smith, used "science" to suspend a hockey puck in mid-air.
"It has a magnetic field because of the perfect diamond that had a response to a superconductor," Dr. Lawler tried to explain to a laymen journalist who barely passed 12th-grade chemistry. "It perfectly repels the field which causes it to levitate. It kind of breaks what you learned in high school physics."
In simpler terms, the U.S. energy grid is powered by metallic cables, but it generates excess heat which contributes to climate change, and it loses about $30 billion worth of power because some electric currents disappear while flowing. Superconductivity wires transmit that electricity more efficiently.
"It has the ability to transmit a current without any resistance," Dr. Lawler said.
It's a big deal for Southern Nevada. Dr. Smith said the unique climate of the southwest can harvest a great amount of solar energy and superconducting wires can transmit that energy all the way to the east coast with zero power lost.
The discovery would be a game-changer in healthcare with lifesaving MRI machines or in transportation with the long-awaited high-speed train.
"We could have bullet trains on the west coast," Dr. Smith said. "You could get from Las Vegas to L.A. in an hour and a half."
Before building rails or increasing efficiency to power smart devices and electric cars, Dr. Lawler said Southern Nevada must first encourage more students into STEM fields.
Jasmine Hinton is a Ph.D. candidate studying physics at UNLV. She's on Dr. Lawler's team. She remembers when she was considering where to pursue her doctorate, and a scientist suggested she conducted her research in Las Vegas.
"They have this little oasis of high pressure there," Hinton said of Las Vegas. "You'd never know that it's a world-class thing because it's in the middle of Nevada. They're doing incredible science in the field."
The discovery could make Southern Nevada an energy hub, which could be an incentive for companies to locate their factories in the area, which could mean thousands of new jobs and substantial economic growth in the Valley. Until then, Dr. Lawler is focused on furthering his research.
