The Physics in Industry lecture series invites physicists to give a talk on their career and how they use physics for their work. There is usually a social before or following the talk, providing an opportunity to meet the speaker and network with fellow students and academic staff.
Physics in Industry Lecture Series
Talk Title: Nuclear Fusion: The Promises and Progress of Science's Greatest Challenge
Date: 17 October 2024 at 17:00
Location: Blackett Lecture Theatre 1
Speaker: Cyd Cowley, Digilab
Abstract: Nuclear fusion represents one of the most phenomenal visions dreamt up by humankind: to harness the power of the stars and deliver safe clean energy for all. However, it's also one of the longest-running scientific challenges, with a myriad of technical and socio economic challenges in the way of an economic fusion power-plant. In this talk, Dr. Cyd Cowley will take you through the biggest hurdles facing the field of fusion, from plasma physics to magnet quenching. Alongside the physics, Cyd will discuss his experience from an undergraduate at Imperial to being at the cutting edge of fusion, and why fusion needs the next generation of talented scientists.
Biography: Dr. Cyd Cowley is an alumni of Imperial College, having spent four years here completing an integrated Masters in Physics. After Imperial, Cyd obtained a PhD at the York Plasma Institute, working in partnership with the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy. He has published several works on exhaust physics in tokamaks, and has collaborated with Commonwealth Fusion Systems, MIT, and the STEP programme. Cyd now works for the machine learning company digiLab applying AI and machine learning to solve challenges in fusion. He produces educational and consultancy resources for the Fusion Industry Association and Fusion Energy Insights.
Talk Title: The role of science (and scientists) and innovation in developing a climate-resilient future
Date: 7 November 2024 at 17:00
Location: Blackett Lecture Theatre 1
Speaker: Greg De Temmerman, Quadrature Climate Foundation
Abstract: We live in an interesting (and unsettling) paradox: our understanding of climate change and its consequences (but also of the environmental challenges in general) comes from decades of scientific research. We know that fossil fuels are at the core of the problem, we have a very good understanding of the consequences of their continued use, and yet we still haven’t started to phase them out (although we might see a peak in their use soon). And, perhaps worse, we still have many policies which are not aligned with our understanding of the problem.
Yet we do not have all the solutions we need and a lot of research/development and innovation is still needed to fully decarbonise our economy- science and scientists are key to get those solutions off the ground and developed at the required speed and scale.
The role of scientists can (should?) go beyond pure research/science work and this is what we’ll explore through the lens of my work trajectory from fundamental research to climate philanthropy.
Biography: Greg is the Deputy CEO and Chief Science Officer at the Quadrature Climate Foundation (QCF), where he leads the Science and Evidence, and Programmes teams. He is responsible for identifying new opportunities for deploying philanthropic capital and managing QCF's portfolio. Greg holds a PhD in experimental physics from the University of Basel and an MSc in chemistry. With over 15 years of experience in academic research, his work has primarily focused on plasma physics and materials processing, particularly the behaviour of materials under extreme conditions, with applications in nuclear fusion.
From 2014 to 2020, Greg served as a scientific coordinator on the ITER project, the largest and most complex scientific project in the world. In 2020, he became the Managing Director of Zenon Research, a Paris-based think tank that analyses emerging trends in technological innovations required to achieve net zero emissions. He was among the first advocates for Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) in France.
Talk Title: The UK Fusion Programme
Date: 16 January 2025 at 17:00
Location: Blackett Lecture Theatre 1
Speaker: Howard Wilson, UKAEA
Abstract: Fusion offers the potential to provide continuous, safe and low-carbon power. However, there remain technical challenges to overcome to realise fusion as well as various other enabling measures which will be needed to make fusion a reality as soon as possible.
This talk will explain the U.K. approach to delivering fusion and setting this in the context of other major fusion programmes internationally. It will then describe the major technical challenges required to deliver a magnetic fusion powerplant and give a brief overview of some of the key deliverables and discoveries that will be required on that pathway. An overview of recent major discoveries in the field will be presented together with a future outlook for the pathway to delivering fusion power.
Biography: Howard joined UKAEA as a theoretical plasma physicist in 1988 following his PhD in high energy particle physics at the University of Cambridge. He moved to University of York in 2005 as Professor of Plasma Physics, expanding their research activity on laser-plasma interactions and inertial confinement fusion into magnetic confinement fusion. He established the York Plasma Institute in 2012, further expanding the research portfolio to include low temperature plasmas for technological applications. He also established the Fusion Centre for Doctoral Training. In 2017, he was seconded part-time back to UKAEA – initially as Research Programme Director and then as the first (interim) STEP Director until returning full-time to University of York in 2020. In 2023 he moved to the US, taking a position as Fusion Pilot Plant R&D Lead at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in East Tennessee. In 2025, he took a position with UK Industrial Fusion Solutions as Director of Science and Technology for the STEP prototype fusion pilot plant, based at the STEP site in West Burton, Nottinghamshire. Howard holds visiting professorships at Universities of York and Oxford, and is a Fellow of both the Institute of Physics and the American Physical Society.
20 February 2025 at 17:00
Talk Title: How to make useful predictions
Talk Title: My Career Journey in QinetiQ
Talk Title: My Journey in Programmable Logic
Talk Title: My career in science and the challenges I face
Talk Title: Tokamak Energy's lithium technology development - from divertors to tritium recovery
Talk Title: How We Use Physics: From Philosophy to Machine Learning
Talk Title: Physics in Industry at QinetiQ