Xiwen Zhong, a research engineer at the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Science Center, died Aug. 1 after a long illness. He was 71.
Zhong was a dedicated engineer who made important contributions to many aspects of the Alcator C-Mod project, including power system control, radio frequency, heating circuit and general electronic circuit design, prototyping and testing.
Born in Hebei Province, China, Zhong graduated from Tsinghua University with a B.S. in electrical engineering in 1959. From his graduation until 1992, he conducted scientific research at the Institute of Automation at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. From 1979 to 1984, he worked at the Space Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Before joining the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center in 2000, he was a visiting electrical engineer at the center from 1992 to 1995.
Zhong is survived by his wife, a daughter, a son and four grandchildren.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on September 13, 2006 (download PDF).
