Harnessing Fusion from Scientific Curiosity to a Potent Clean Energy Solution

Harnessing Fusion from Scientific Curiosity to a Potent Clean Energy Solution

Plunging into tangled challenges? Building a commercial-scale nuclear fusion power plant isn't just a good idea; it's a beast waiting to be tamed. Powered by the very process that keeps the sun burning bright, fusion has long evaded our grasp on Earth despite an onslaught of research spanning decades.

Michael Z. Hartwig, a man drawn to the daunting, finds this challenge nothing short of intoxicating. "There's something crazily alluring about the magnitude of the fusion conundrum," he says. "It's typical of many at MIT, I think. I'm driven to tackle extremely difficult problems. There's something innately gratifying about that struggle. It's part of the reason I've stuck with this field."

However, just as Hartwig was about to embark on his PhD journey, the Department of Energy declared plans to halt funding for the Alcator C-Mod tokamak, a significant fusion experiment at MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center. Yet, this roadblock didn't deter him from the path. Instead, he seized the opportunity to steer his career in a direction that would shake up the industry. In 2017, he took an associate professor position at MIT, determined to continue his pursuit of fusion.

"It was a pretty grim time to secure a faculty position in fusion energy, but I relish a void," Hartwig says, who recently secured tenure at MIT. "I adore a void because there's a massive opportunity in chaos."

Hartwig found a glimmer of hope in a class he took from Professor Dennis Whyte. The course tasked students with designing a nuclear fusion power plant incorporating a new form of high-temperature superconducting magnet. According to Hartwig, these magnets make fusion reactors smaller, cheaper, and quicker.

Whyte, Hartwig, and a few collaborators promptly began working tirelessly outside of class hours to prove the concept viable. In 2017, the group established Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) to develop the world's first commercial-scale nuclear fusion power plants. Over the following four years, Hartwig spearheaded a research project at MIT in partnership with CFS, pushing the magnet technology further and scaling it to create a 20-Tesla superconducting magnet - an essential size for a nuclear fusion power plant.

The creation of the magnet and its successful testing marked a turning point for the industry. CFS has since garnered over $2 billion in investments to build its first reactors, while the larger fusion industry has surpassed $8 billion in private funding.

You might've heard the joke that fusion is always 30 years away, but these days, the jokes are few and far between.

"The outlook in 2024 is markedly different from what it was in 2016, and a big part of that shift is tied to MIT's institutional capabilities and the determination of people here to achieve great things," Hartwig notes.

A starry-eyed dreamer, Hartwig's childhood in St. Louis saw him more involved in sports and outdoor play than in physics. However, an interest in biomedical engineering during his time at Boston University led him to physics, ultimately leading to his current focus on nuclear science.

Working hard to earn his physics degree, Hartwig took a break after graduation for a breath of fresh air. He indulged in competitive cycling and worked at a bike shop, taking a break from the relentless pressure to pursue academic excellence.

"So much pressure is placed on people in science and engineering to forge ahead unceasingly," Hartwig says. "People claim that if you take time off, you won't be able to attend graduate school, you won't be able to secure recommendation letters. I always tell my students, 'It depends on the individual.' Each person is unique; my break set me up for a more mature mindset and heightened focus when I returned to academia."

Hartwig enrolled in MIT's Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering as a PhD student in 2007. When Dennis Whyte introduced a class focused on designing nuclear fusion power plants, Hartwig was intrigued. The final projects revealed a surprisingly promising path forward for a stagnant fusion field that had been stuck in place for decades. And with that, CFS was born.

"We established CFS with the idea that it would form a deep alliance with MIT and MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center, leveraging the infrastructure, knowledge, people, and capabilities at MIT," Hartwig explains. "We had to initiate the company with the understanding that it would be intimately bound to MIT in an unprecedented partnership."

Driven by impact, Hartwig has witnessed a surge in applications from graduate students to MIT's Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering.

"There's a massive demand, because people are exhilarated again about the prospects," Hartwig says. "Instead of taking fusion and a machine generation to develop, we might hopefully learn about these systems in less than a decade."

Hartwig's research group is still testing CFS' new magnets, but they are also partnering with other fusion companies to drive broader advancements in the field. Looking back on his career, it's Hartwig's tendency to switch specialties every six years or so that he is most proud of.

"It's far from traditional in academia," Hartwig says. "Success comes from entering something new with a fresh perspective, bringing a sense of inexperience but also realism to a new field, and offering a new toolkit, approach, or idea about what can be achieved."

Now, Hartwig is immersed in developing new methods to study materials for use in fusion and fission reactors. "I'm already keen on moving on to the next thing; the next field where I'm not an expert," Hartwig says. "It's about recognizing where there's a standstill in fusion and technology, where innovation isn't happening where we desperately need it, and introducing new ideas to that standstill."

1. Michael Z. Hartwig, enticed by the complexities of fusion, sees it as an alluring challenge that resonates with many at MIT.
2. Despite the Department of Energy halting funding for the Alcator C-Mod tokamak, Hartwig was undeterred and saw the opportunity to steer his career toward fusion.
3. In 2017, Hartwig took an associate professor position at MIT, determined to continue his pursuit of fusion and establish a commercial-scale nuclear fusion power plant.
4. Hartwig found hope in a class tasking students with designing a nuclear fusion power plant incorporating high-temperature superconducting magnets.
5. Working outside of class hours with collaborators, Hartwig's group, including Professor Dennis Whyte, set out to prove the concept viable, eventually founding Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) in 2017.
6. With $2 billion in investments, CFS is building the world's first commercial-scale nuclear fusion power plants, signals that the industry has surpassed $8 billion in private funding.
7. The success of CFS' research project led to the creation of a 20-Tesla superconducting magnet, an essential size for a nuclear fusion power plant, which marked a significant milestone for the industry.
8. The jokes about fusion being perpetually 30 years away are fewer these days, signaling a promising future for the technology.
9. Hartwig credits MIT's institutional capabilities and the determination of its faculty and students for the industry's recent shift towards commercialization.
10. Hartwig's childhood interest in biomedical engineering led him to physics and his current focus on nuclear science, despite his early focus on sports and outdoor play.
11. Hartwig enrolled in MIT's Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering as a PhD student in 2007, where Dennis Whyte's class on designing nuclear fusion power plants ignited the concept for CFS, ultimately revolutionizing the fusion industry.

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