Who was Nuno Loureiro? MIT professor fatally shot in his home in Brookline

Nuno Loureiro was shot dead on Tuesday, December 16. The MIT professor was 47. The Brookline police and institute officials confirmed that he died during the morning hours, as per BBC News.

Updates on the investigation are currently awaited. However, a neighbor of Nuno, identified as Liv Schachner, claimed that around three shots were fired in the evening. Liv, also a student, said that it was the loudest noise she ever heard, due to which she believed it was gunshots.

According to NBC News, Nuno Loureiro was discovered at his residence in Brooklyn. The cops received a call about the gunshots, following which Nuno was hospitalized.

Loureiro’s colleagues paid tribute to him, with the Department of Physics head, Deepto Chakrabarty, describing Nuno as an expert in plasma physics. He even recalled Loureiro’s bonding with the students, saying that he was an “inspiring and caring mentor” to all of them.

“His recent work on quantum computing algorithms for plasma physics simulations was a particularly exciting new scientific direction,” Deepto added.

The Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Benoit Forget, shared a statement via email, writing that Nuno would be missed by everyone. He even praised Loureiro’s work as a scientist and educator.

Notably, Nuno came to the institute around nine years ago, and his research work grabbed a lot of attention. He started serving as the director of their Plasma Science and Fusion Center last year. Loureiro had a long list of accolades, such as the National Science Foundation Career Award.

Nuno Loureiro had a long list of experiences over the years: Career and other details explained

The Viseu, Portugal native’s recent death has led to a lineup of tributes on various platforms. As mentioned, he was a part of MIT for a long time. He was active as a professor of Nuclear Science and Technology at the institute before his demise.

According to his bio on the Plasma Science and Fusion Center’s website, Nuno Loureiro taught the main courses in the Plasma Physics and Fusion Graduate Program. He previously served as the inaugural Fusion Research Fellow at the Culham Center for Fusion Energy.

Nuno’s research work was also popular among everyone. He focused on topics such as magnetized plasma dynamics along with magnetic field amplification, confinement, and transport in fusion plasmas. The research was helpful for fusion devices that could utilize the power of other plasmas, making the creation of clean fusion power easier.

After joining MIT, Loureiro tried to find a solution to the vexing in plasma turbulence. He even discovered some details related to the working of the universe with his research in astrophysics.

Nuno Loureiro even collaborated with the University of Wisconsin professor, Stainslav Boldyrev, writing a paper titled Turbulence in Magnetized Pair Plasmas. Nuno opened up on how pair plasmas are not like normal ones, as he said:

“In a normal electron-ion plasma, the ion is about 2,000 times heavier than the electron. But electrons and positrons have exactly the same mass, so there’s a whole range of behaviors that aren’t possible in a normal plasma and vice-versa.”

According to BBC News, Nuno completed his graduation at the Lisbon-based Instituto Superior Tecnico. He later enrolled at Imperial College London for his PhD.