Fusion and Plasma Physics Careers Day

Introduction to Fusion and Plasma Physics Careers 

Join the Department of Physics and the Plasma Physics Group for our Fusion and Plasma Physics Careers Day! This short introduction will outline the day’s programme, and the line up of talks from leading employers in the fusion and plasma physics sector. There will be plenty of opportunities to network during the coffee and lunch breaks. In the afternoon, explore employer stands to discuss current vacancies, future career opportunities, and developments in the field. You’ll also have the chance to speak with Yasmin Andrew and Robert Kingham, co-directors of the MSc in Physics with Fusion and Plasma Physics, to learn more about the course and pathways to employment and postgraduate study.

Biography

Yasmin Andrew is a Senior Teaching Fellow in the Department of Physics at Imperial, where she is also the Co-Director of the MSc in Physics with Fusion and Plasma Physics and Head of Student Experience. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics, a member of the IOP Plasma Physics Committee, the UK representative for Plasma Physics at the International Union for Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) and an Editorial Board member of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A. She is currently a collaborator on the international fusion experiments MAST-U, DIII-D and ST40 in the areas of the L-H transition, H-mode pedestal, edge, scrape-off layer and divertor plasma transport. Her research interests include the study of plasma turbulence, transport barrier dynamics, complex systems and plasma self-organisation, through experiment, data analysis, statistical framework development and application, and information geometry.

Robert Kingham is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics at Imperial, where is also Co-Director of the MSc in Physics with Fusion and Plasma Physics. He is a theoretical plasma physicist working for over 20 years in the areas of Laser-Plasma Interaction (LPI), Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF), High Energy Density Physics (HEDP) and more recently in Magnetic Confinement  Fusion (MCF). The main thread of his research has been kinetic theory and modelling of electron transport including coupling to magnetic-field dynamics.  He and his team have developed several kinetic and extended-MHD simulation codes including IMPACT and CTC to study this.  His other research interests include non-linear optics of laser propagation in plasma, instabilities and twisted light.  Since 2016, he has been increasingly working in the field of tokamak exhaust physics.  He is currently a Visiting Fellow at UKAEA and collaborates extensively with the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy.

Career Planning & You

In this session, Jess will offer a reminder of the support available from the Careers Service for final year and postgraduate students as well as walking you through how to use Plan:Me – a self-coaching tool to support decision making and action planning for your next career steps.

Biography

Jess Popplewell is the Careers Consultant for Physics at Imperial. She has previously delivered talks for the Institute of Physics and the Royce Institute at Manchester University, with a special focus on how physicists can tell effective stories of their experiences to future employers and potential funders.

Research conducted at the Plasma Science and Fusion Operation Division at UKAEA

Current research at UKAEA’s Plasma Science and Fusion Operation Division covers many areas to promote innovation and operate experimental devices to derisk future magnetic confinement power plants. This talk will cover a few of the challenges the team are facing and the research they are conducting to address them.  

Biography

Dr Elina Militello Asp a is a fusion plasma physicist with over 20 years of international experience who transforms complex challenges into opportunities for advancement. For the past decade, she led an innovative, boundary-pushing project for ITER, the multibillion-dollar international fusion experiment, demonstrating the feasibility of achieving one of its key operational goals: generating 500 MW of fusion power while respecting engineering and operational limits.

UPLiFT: UK Programme of Laser inertial Fusion Technology for Energy

UPLiFT is an ambitious programme of scientific and technological development which aims to lay the foundations to enable a future demonstration of laser inertial fusion energy. In this talk Dr Scott will discuss the steps required to make progress along this path, and their current programme.

Biography 

Dr Robbie Scott is the Chief Scientist of UPLiFT (UK Programme of Laser Inertial Fusion Technology for Energy). He is also Chair of the UK Inertial Fusion Consortium and a Senior Plasma Physicist at the Central Laser Facility, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory.

He is the inventor of the ‘Shock-Augmented Ignition’ laser inertial fusion concept, which has the potential to double fusion-energy-gain. He has patented a new laser concept which is predicted to reduce the cost of laser fusion systems very substantially. He is also a co-author on the seminal National Ignition Facility (NIF) fusion ignition paper.

Dr Scott has worked in laser inertial fusion since 2007, completed his PhD at Imperial College London in 2011, and worked on NIF at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory until 2013. Before inertial fusion, he worked as a mechanical analysis and design engineer in the oil industry, then in the design, construction and deployment of large-scale scientific research facilities.

He also sits on the advisory boards of The Fusion Cluster, the Fusion Advisory Committee, Harwell Defence Alliance, and the Fusion Skills Council.

First Light Fusion – The UK’s Inertial Fusion Company

An introduction to First Light Fusion and our new FLARE fusion reactor concept. The concept is an end-to-end inertial fusion reactor vision that utilises an electrical pulsed power energy delivery system. Validation of the concept occurs in Oxfordshire through machine learning optimisation of our target designs using in-house developed simulations tools complemented by experimental testing internally and on machines around the world.

Biography 

Hugo Doyle is Head of Empirical Validation at First Light Fusion, the world’s largest Inertial Fusion Confinement company based in Oxford UK. 

He has 15 years of experience in the fusion industry and runs the department whose mission is to validate advanced target designs. His team has been responsible for building the capability to experimentally validate fusion in the laboratory, proving the First Light fusion concepts. This involves developing drivers to compress and heat deuterium tritium filled targets and measuring the burst of neutrons emitted, in their laboratory in Oxfordshire. First Light also develops diversified products and services for other industries, such as space and defence.

Pulsed Plasma Thrusters at Magdrive

Magdrive Ltd., founded in 2019 and based at Harwell Campus, UK, is a spacecraft propulsion company. This talk summarises how plasma physics is enabling the next generation of agile, efficient spacecraft with the development of the Magdrive Rogue thruster, a high-power advanced plasma thruster. The Magdrive Rogue uses an on-board pulsed power system to ionize solid metal propellant, operating at variable repetition rates to achieve high thrust and specific impulse. Highlights include recent milestones such as the first in-orbit demonstration of the Rogue Nanosat Thruster, and the opening of the Disruptive Experimental Electric Propulsion (DEEP) lab, which hosts new vacuum chambers and clean rooms for enhanced electric propulsion testing and production capabilities.

The session will cover the fundamentals of electric propulsion, the challenges of operating in increasingly crowded orbits, and the critical role of advanced thruster technology in supporting in-orbit servicing, manufacturing, and sustainable space operations. The talk will conclude with a discussion of career opportunities for physicists in the rapidly growing UK space sector, presenting a potential path for students considering a transition from academia to industry.

Biography

Dr. George Hicks is the Head of Experimental Physics at Magdrive Ltd. He began his career at Imperial College, where he completed a 4-year PhD followed by 7 years of postdoctoral research. His expertise lies in ion and electron acceleration and plasma diagnostics. After a position working for Physics simulation company COMSOL, George has moved into the space industry joining Magdrive in 2023. At Magdrive, he is involved in various experiments and projects aimed at enhancing the thrust and specific impulse of the Magdrive thrusters, ultimately improving the efficiency and performance of space propulsion systems