Scientists and engineers at General Atomics (GA) and the University of California San Diego (UC San Diego) will collaborate to establish a Fusion Data Science and Digital Engineering Center in San Diego. The new center sets the stage for even deeper collaborations in advanced digital engineering, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and high-performance computing (HPC) as part of a multi-step effort to fast-track fusion energy development.

The collaborations are part of a critical research thrust within the campus’ Fusion Engineering Institute which brings together students, faculty and external partners around fusion energy research and education. The mission of the institute is to address the engineering challenges that must be solved to ensure that California and the nation win the global race to develop and deliver practical fusion energy at scale.

The new center builds on the strengthening collaboration between GA and UC San Diego in many areas at the intersection of data and fusion including the recent Fusion Innovative Research Engine (FIRE) project and the Fusion Data Platform for AI, both funded by the Department of Energy Office of Fusion Energy Science.

Advances at the interface of fusion and data science stand to accelerate a series of complementary fusion research and workforce development collaborations between GA and UC San Diego. UC San Diego’s fusion expertise spans magnetic and inertial fusion approaches and includes plasma physics and engineering, lasers, materials science, data science, artificial intelligence and more. GA brings decades of leadership in fusion research; technology development; and deep understanding of control systems, fusion facility operation and maintenance, data architecture and fusion systems modeling.

Apart from the collaborations between GA and UC San Diego, the new center also includes contributions from industry leaders such as Ansys and NVIDIA a top technology and AI computing company.

This is a breakthrough moment for fusion energy research in California, especially San Diego. We believe the center’s focus in developing leading edge computing and digital engineering tools for fusion energy will have great synergy with experimental data from the Department of Energy’s DIII-D National Fusion Facility, which is operated by General Atomics. This collaboration will provide a unique opportunity to create new tools and technologies that will further accelerate the path to cost-effective commercial fusion energy.

—Dr. Anantha Krishnan, senior vice president for the General Atomics Energy Group