Louis A. Rosocha

LOUIS ROSOCHA
Dr. Louis Rosocha died unexpectedly in Los Alamos, NM, on October 17, 2017.
Louis was born in Harrison, Arkansas, in 1950 to Stanley Rosocha and Wladyslawa “Lottie” Zarkowski Rosocha, and raised in Yellville, Arkansas.
He attended the University of Arkansas (Fayetteville), receiving his BS in physics in 1972. He received the MS and PhD degrees in physics, with a minor in chemistry, from the University of Wisconsin (Madison) in 1975 and 1979. While at UW-M, he met and married Emma Riemer. They lived in Madison until Louis joined Los Alamos National Laboratory.
From 1981-2008, he was a technical staff member and manager at LANL. He served as Team Leader for Plasma Processing in the Plasma Physics Group, leading several projects. Dr. Rosocha worked on KrF lasers for inertial confinement fusion applications in the 1980s-1990s. In the late 1990s until his retirement, he was a leader in research and applications of plasma-assisted combustion.
He is listed as inventor or co-inventor on 16 patents, granted or pending. He was the author of over 100 publications in books, refereed journals and conference proceedings. He received two Distinguished Performance Awards at LANL during his career, and was an active member of the American Physical Society and the IEEE.
After taking an early retirement from LANL in 2008, he became an independent consultant, focusing his R&D and scientific interests on CO2 sequestration/global warming, national energy security, plasma-assisted combustion, and water/air pollution abatement. He and Dr. Lowell Morgan of Kinema Research worked for the last 10 years on various projects including the use of plasma devices in cleanup of hydrofracking drilling operations. Most recently, they were developing a technique for sequestering cesium from the Fukushima nuclear reactor disaster.
Louis was predeceased by his parents and his brother, Gerald. He is survived by his two sons.
He was a lifelong fan of billiards, and won a number of amateur trophies and awards for his superb skills.
He loved riding and working on motorcycles. He was a long-time member of the Sons of the American Legion, and the Legion Riders, who knew him as “Professor.”
He will be remembered by his many friends in Los Alamos and around the world for his kindness and generosity.
A celebration of life was held at the American Legion Post 90 in Los Alamos. Tax-deductible donations in remembrance may be made to American Legion Charities, 1325 Trinity Dr., Los Alamos, NM 87544.