Olga L. Polushenko, 1942 – 2014

June 30, 2014 (PO32). Olga Leonidowna Polushenko was born on October 8th, 1942 in the Voronesh region and passed away after a severe illness on March 4th, 2014. She graduated from the famous Moscow State Technical University (named after N.E. Bauman, Russian acronym MGTU), in 1965 and earned her Ph.D. degree (Russian “candidate of sciences”) in 1973 for a study on hot pressing of ferrites, also from MGTU. While her early research was in powder metallurgy of electronic and magnetic materials, she became deeply involved in R&D of superconducting materials since the advent of high-T_c superconducting (HTS) cuprates in 1986. Olga remained at MGTU and became there a “docent” (equivalent to Associate Professor) combining teaching and research activities.

Over the past 28 years, her interest concentrated on bulk HTS technology, suitable for fabrication of high-strength cryogenic magnets. The excellent properties of her bulk materials enabled the construction of first Russian HTS superconducting motors with excellent characteristics. Recently, she made a major contribution to the development of superconducting bearings for the kinetic energy storage (under a “Rosatom” program).

Olga authored over 40 scientific publications and had 6 Russian patents to her credit. Her friends remember her not only as a scientist and “a patriot of Russian superconductivity”, but also as a remarkable and wonderful person. Many remember her also as an excellent culinary chef, especially remembered by her unforgettable tort cakes. She’ll remain in the hearts of her many collaborators and friends. Olga didn’t leave behind any family.

(Written by SNF based in part on an obituary in Russian published by N. Nizhel’skiy for friends of Olga Poluschenko in the online Superconductors in Electric Power Industry published by the Moscow Kurchatov Institute, a Russian National Research Center, http://www.nrcki.ru/ and http://perst.isssph.kiae.ru/supercond/news.php?id=1109).