Join us as we meet with both Chris Young from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, known for demonstrating fusion ignition for the first time in a laboratory setting, and Liam Corrigan from Fuse, a fast-growing fusion startup focused on Z-Pinch reactors. We will be covering technical, political, and economic topics regarding the current fusion research space along with the future of the field, and hear about the day-to-day of modern fusion researchers.

The session will be held in a moderated discussion format, with opportunities for active engagement and audience questions.

Chris Young is a design physicist in the inertial confinement fusion program at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). Since 2016, he has supported a variety of National Ignition Facility campaigns by modeling laser fusion experiments with LLNL's large multi-physics simulation codes. His design efforts helped realize the first laboratory fusion experiments to attain burning plasma and ignition conditions. He has been recognized with the American Physical Society John Dawson Award for Excellence in Plasma Physics Research (2022) and the laboratory’s Early and Mid-Career Recognition (EMCR) award (2023). Previously, he completed a PhD in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University studying electric propulsion for spacecraft.

Liam Corrigan is the head of finance at Fuse where he leads supply chain operations and capital structuring. Liam graduated Magna cum laude from Harvard with a degree in Physics and Astrophysics and holds a Masters of Financial Economics, with Distinction, from Oxford University. Liam's undergraduate research involved design of instrumentation for observational cosmology. Prior to joining Fuse, Liam worked as an investor at Alpine Investors and represented the United States in rowing at two Olympic Games. Liam views capital alignment and supply chain formation as critical aspects of achieving commercial Q > 1.