Greetings from someone not quite retired in Madison, WI

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Richard Bonomo
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Greetings from someone not quite retired in Madison, WI

Post by Richard Bonomo »

Hello!

I heard that my name and lab appeared on Fusor.net, so I thought I would come to chime in and correct and update impressions!

My name is, as noted, Richard Bonomo. I was the staff engineer / lab manager / etc. for the University of Wisconsin Inertial Electrostatic Confinement Fusion Laboratory under the umbrella of the UW Fusion Technology Institute from February, 2008, until the IEC Group shut down, officially, in December of 2020, as our funding has run out. My "retirement" is temporary, premature, and not voluntary. It was simply a consequence of the funding situation.

I am currently the primary consulting laboratory manager for Clandestine Materials Detection, Inc., which company was recently started to continue the work of the UW FTI/IEC Group in the area of explosives detection using fusion technology.

Rich
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Richard Hull
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Re: Greetings from someone not quite retired in Madison, WI

Post by Richard Hull »

Thanks for the update Richard. May I post you informative data in the admin forum where the info on the U of W IECF lab closure is discussed? Better still, the much more inclusive post you put in the trading post. put that in as a reply in the Admin forum. Go to.....

viewtopic.php?f=47&t=14333

Richard Hull
Progress may have been a good thing once, but it just went on too long. - Yogi Berra
Fusion is the energy of the future....and it always will be
The more complex the idea put forward by the poor amateur, the more likely it will never see embodiment
JoeBallantyne
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Re: Greetings from someone not quite retired in Madison, WI

Post by JoeBallantyne »

Looks like Prof. Kulcinski put a bid on the initial price that SWAP placed on the auction. Given that he was involved in spending the money to buy the equipment in the lab, and knows how much everything cost new, he probably figured it was a very reasonable price.

However, I expect if he had simply waited out a couple of auction cycles, making sure to bid only if someone else actually bid on it, he could have gotten the whole lot for $20k or less.

Because if there are no bidders, the university will keep dropping the price. I will be shocked if he has any competition at $59K, and likely also wouldn't have any at $20k or even $15k.

But I suppose he is not typically a participant in the buying of surplus equipment from university auctions.

(Always wait for the price to come down BEFORE you make your first bid.)

Granted this means you have to be sure to set an alarm to catch the end of the auction, so that you can bid if someone else does, but spending 10 minutes or so a few times monitoring the end of the auction, to potentially save tens of thousands of dollars is a small price to pay. IMO.

Too late now. He's on the hook for $60k.

Joe.
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Dennis P Brown
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Re: Greetings from someone not quite retired in Madison, WI

Post by Dennis P Brown »

When a serious researcher knows that the item(s) are going for pennies on the dollar and does not want to risk losing a bid they (and I always do this, as well) put their final and full bid first. I've won some really great equipment at absolutely a steal - and certainly he knows the condition and how to handle the 'iffy' items (a risk for most of us, normally.) Yes, I paid more compared to waiting but not getting the equipment would have been a really bad occurrence. I never regretted the move and have a number of gems. Not saying there isn't merit to your approach - there is and I've done it as well. But I suspect that in his case the equipment is essential for his continued (and likely some funding since he has contacts) work and the overall cost pales compared to not winning and ending his efforts in fusion research - there are other researchers/companies out there that look for bargains as well and have deep pockets.
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Joe Gayo
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Re: Greetings from someone not quite retired in Madison, WI

Post by Joe Gayo »

I suspect Joe B. knows what he's talking about. Wise words.
Frank Sanns
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Re: Greetings from someone not quite retired in Madison, WI

Post by Frank Sanns »

HE is most likely not on the hook for anything. My bet is that he is spending somebody else's money or is part of a bigger deal including salary. There is no way somebody would spend that kind of money when they could get it for a fraction of that.
Achiever's madness; when enough is still not enough. ---FS
We have to stop looking at the world through our physical eyes. The universe is NOT what we see. It is the quantum world that is real. The rest is just an electron illusion. ---FS
JoeBallantyne
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Re: Greetings from someone not quite retired in Madison, WI

Post by JoeBallantyne »

Looks like the auction has closed, and indeed, only the single bid. As predicted.
Richard Bonomo
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Re: Greetings from someone not quite retired in Madison, WI

Post by Richard Bonomo »

Richard Hull(?): feel free to repost as you see fit!

Yes, the auction took place, and the "lot" that was allowed to go to auction was purchased by "Clandestine Materials Detection, Inc.", a company founded by Jerry Kulcinski, John Santarius, and a few non-UW people. It is being funded by private venture capital raised and being raised from a variety of people.

For those who are wondering how this works: the UW being a state agency, it cannot simply give or directly sell equipment to a for-profit entity. So, when we closed down our laboratory -- NOT our idea, I assure you -- we could not simply arrange for the UW to transfer the equipment to any of us personally, nor to a for-profit corporate entity, as it might have been possible to arrange if UW were a private or ecclesiastically affiliated university.

As a consequence, after giving other research groups in the department of Engineering Physics, the College of Engineering, and the University in general, a chance to take whatever they wanted, we had to put the remainder up for an at least minimal public auction. The price was suggested by Jerry, and approved by the department. The department's interest is in getting at least enough money to cover shortfalls in research funds, and perhaps more. They don't really care about the value of the equipment. No-one does, really, Our surplus property people were quite happy to not have to try to move and sell random pieces of specialized hardware.

So, wish us luck!

More as time goes on, I am sure!

Rich
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Richard Hull
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Re: Greetings from someone not quite retired in Madison, WI

Post by Richard Hull »

Good luck with all that fine gear. Glad it went to a good home where the end users know what to do with it after all those years working with it anyway.

Richard Hull
Progress may have been a good thing once, but it just went on too long. - Yogi Berra
Fusion is the energy of the future....and it always will be
The more complex the idea put forward by the poor amateur, the more likely it will never see embodiment
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