New Minor Prepares Students for Fusion Industry

Columbia Engineering has announced the launch of its new minor in fusion energy, an innovative program designed to provide Engineering students an opportunity to engage with fusion while completing their main degree. This new program prepares students to work in the fusion industry or other high-tech sectors or to pursue graduate studies in fusion or plasma physics. 

“Advancing progress in fusion will require expertise across disciplines,” said Dean of Columbia Engineering Shih-Fu Chang. “With this minor, we are preparing students with a solid foundation they can build on to join in this exciting effort.”

The six-course curriculum, which builds upon foundational math and engineering, includes required courses in nuclear and plasma physics and elective courses in those fields, as well as fluid dynamics, circuits and control, mathematical and computational modeling, fluid and finite element modeling, and materials science. In a testament to the interdisciplinary nature of the contemporary fusion energy landscape, these courses are drawn from a wide range of engineering disciplines. 

“Our goal for this new minor is to invite students from a wide range of engineering backgrounds to join the global effort to make fusion energy a reality,” said Carlos Paz-Soldan, associate professor of applied physics and applied mathematics and founding director of the Columbia Fusion Research Center. “These courses will prepare graduates to contribute meaningfully to the companies and research organizations that are developing this vital new source of energy.” 

In developing the course, faculty members drew on the expertise of Columbia Engineering undergraduates who participate in fusion research. Their insights helped the faculty determine which courses in the School’s catalog best prepare students to solve the problems they encounter in the lab and when working with industry partners. 

“Our undergraduate researchers brought a sophisticated sense of which courses from their respective departments taught skills that were most relevant to the fusion research they’re actively pursuing,” said Sophia Guizzo, who assisted in developing the program. Guizzo BS’24 is pursuing her PhD in applied physics at Columbia Engineering. 

“With so many private companies hiring employees straight out of undergraduate programs, we sought to design a program that covers skills that are particularly desirable in today’s fusion industry.”

For more information, visit the Fusion Energy Minor page in the Columbia Engineering Bulletin.

Lead Photo Caption: The Fusion Research Center hosted tours of its labs during Climate Week NYC in the fall. 

Lead Photo Credit: David Dini/Columbia Engineering