Exploring the Future of Fusion

Fusion power plants would transform the energy landscape. Safer than the nuclear plants in operation today, a fusion power plant would harness the physics of stars to transform hydrogen into energy without direct carbon emissions or unmanageable waste streams. They would run regardless of weather conditions or disruptions to the global oil supply. 

Fusion energy has been just over the horizon for a very long time — but the situation may be changing. 

Solutions to many of the most daunting technological challenges are in sight (or already resolved) thanks to progress in fields like AI and materials science, and private investors have begun pouring billions of dollars into dozens of startups racing to put the first fusion power plant on the grid.

It’s a particularly exciting moment for Columbia, where generations of researchers have been exploring the science behind fusion and chipping away at technical hurdles since the Plasma Physics Laboratory was established in 1961. 

That legacy continues today. In the past year, Columbia Engineering launched a minor in fusion energy and announced the Columbia Fusion Research Center, which nurtures existing partnerships with the fusion industry and provides a framework for collaboration with new partners.

In celebration of these milestones, Columbia Engineering is focusing on fusion in the latest issue of The Lever, the School’s collection of limited-series newsletters on major problems and solutions. Subscribe today to start receiving the five-part series, “Making Fusion a Reality,” featuring faculty from Columbia Engineering, the School of International and Public Affairs, and beyond. 

Meet the Contributors

Image Carlos Paz-Soldan Associate professor of applied physics and applied mathematics at Columbia Engineering; Director of Columbia Fusion Research Center	Image Elizabeth Paul Assistant professor of applied physics and applied mathematics	Image Matt Bowen Senior research scholar in the faculty of international and public affairs
Image Andrew Holland CEO of the Fusion Industry Association