Renaissance Fusion launches its Senior Technical Advisor Committee
From left to right: Andrea Tummino, Head of Academic Programs at Renaissance Fusion; Teresa Puig; Ralf Kaiser; Milan Radovic; Raul Sanchez; Alexander Usoskin; Reinis Baranovskis, Group Leader of Liquid Metal Experiments at Renaissance Fusion; Sergey Smolentsev; and Nathaniel Baker, Head of Liquid Metal at Renaissance Fusion.
Renaissance Fusion kicks off the year with the first meeting of its Senior Technical Advisor Committee (STAC), a new body bringing together international fusion experts to provide guidance and insights and to challenge the company’s decisions and scientific strategy.
On January 8, 2026, Renaissance Fusion unveiled the composition of its Senior Technical Advisory Committee (STAC), a new body in charge of providing guidance on strategic, scientific, and technical aspects, research priorities, and technological advancements in fusion science, liquid metals, and HTS materials and magnets.
With experts hailing from all over the world, the STAC will help ensure that Renaissance Fusion’s initiatives remain at the forefront of innovation, while addressing global energy challenges.
“I always say that, to bring technologies out of the lab and into the market, first we must go to the lab,” said Francesco Volpe, founder and CTO at Renaissance Fusion. “Today we go to the lab with world experts of our technologies, scrutinizing and challenging what we do. This is reminiscent of the peer-review system, which is at the foundation of science and is still essential in navigating the “valley of death” from invention to product. Eventually the market will decide who retails the best fusion product. Till then, fusion and its HTS and liquid metal enablers are still “deep techs” rooted in the lab, impatient to spread their wings. In this phase, it is essential to seek the advice of academic experts and to show them the data with thoroughness, transparency, humility, patience, with the big picture, the small details, and an open, fertile mind. The STAC reciprocates with equal open-mindedness and foresight. The learning curve is now complete, and academia and private fusion can clearly dialogue with each other. We are excited and profoundly honored to start working with this Advisory Committee. A big welcome and a big thank you to all its members!”
“I’m very happy to be able to support Renaissance Fusion as a STAC Member,” said Ralf Kaiser, one of the newly appointed specialists. “Fusion energy has the potential to make many of our current problems go away. The approach of Renaissance Fusion to realize fusion energy is innovative but incredibly logical.”
Fusion Science
Four fusion science specialists will help shape Renaissance Fusion’s approach:
Rogerio JORGE, an Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA, who was formerly an Invited Assistant Professor and Junior Researcher at the Instituto Superior Técnico in Portugal.
Ralf KAISER, an experimental nuclear physicist, former Head of the Physics Section at the IAEA, and founder of the award-winning high-tech startup Lynkeos Technology.
Kazunobu NAGASAKI, a Professor at Kyoto University’s Institute of Advanced Energy in Japan.
Raul SANCHEZ, a Full Professor in the Physics Department and a member of the Plasma Physics Group at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain.
Liquid Metals
Two liquid metal specialists will join the STAC:
Angel IBARRA, the former Head of the Fusion Technology Division at CIEMAT and former Director at IFMIF-DONES España, with over 40 years of experience in fusion.
Sergey SMOLENTSEV, a Distinguished R&D Staff Member at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, who previously worked at St. Petersburg Polytechnic University and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
HTS
The STAC will include three experts in high-temperature superconductors:
Teresa PUIG, a Research Professor at the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB) of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC).
Milan RADOVIC, a Senior Scientist at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Switzerland, and an Adjunct Professor at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU).
Alexander USOSKIN, Managing Director at Optical Layer Systems GbR.