TechFest was a valuable chance for the teams to interact, collaborate and learn something new

By Stuart White

When working on two transformative technologies with the potential to change the world, it’s only right to sometimes take a breath.

How else would the people building the world’s largest set of High Temperature Superconductor (HTS) magnets in tokamak geometry, Demo4, get to talk shop with those operating a 100 million degrees spherical tokamak, ST40.

I’m not one of the 60 PhDs and 75 Masters of Science at Tokamak Energy, but humbly placed in the middle to bring minds together for an in-house technology exhibition.

TechFest was a chance to showcase some of the incredible work and people driving continuous innovation across our company on the path to commercialising fusion in the 2030s.

Here are 3 insights from the day.

1. TechFest created a buzz and introduced people to new ideas and ways of working

TechFest was a mix of technical posters and interactive table-top demos, a VR-tour of ST40 and presentations across 10 stations in a sun-drenched May marquee. It gave the whole company a chance to see what others are doing, to interact, collaborate and learn something new.

The atmosphere was electric. Our first TechFest created a real buzz across all the teams, and introduced people to new ideas and ways of working. I personally handed out 200 raffle tickets for entry into a prize draw to win a hand-crafted model of ST40, with Demo4’s Vicky Bayliss drawing the lucky number.

2. TechFest gave us a space to open up around safety, wellbeing and EDI

Complimentary to the technology, two stands were dedicated to safety and wellbeing, and equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI).

We learned the value of starting every meeting with a simple ‘How are you feeling today’ mood-check, while the EDI team addressed diversity in STEM, produced a case study on our international employees – from Finland to India, United States to Romania – and served up top class homemade cookies as an incentive for completing a data survey.

The data will be used to fully understand the diversity of our people, which is important for many reasons like recruiting, reporting and creating a respectful and innovative environment where every voice is heard. High performing teams are always diverse teams.

3. The technology showcase allowed all team members to get close to the tech and feel part of the company’s mission

Centre stage at TechFest was a stand on a new high-power gyrotron plasma heating system set to be installed on ST40. It included design models and described how plasma stability control may be possible with gyrotrons in future power-plant scale machines. Visitors were also given an in-depth look at the recent diagnostics upgrades in ST40, including soft X-ray cameras and divertor spectroscopy.

The magnet team provided an update on Demo4, which will be a complete set of tokamak geometry HTS magnets with the world’s highest field and highest stored energy. Each of the 14 partially insulated coil pairs were spooled and wound with 53 turns of rare-earth barium copper oxide (ReBCO) HTS tape and manufactured in-house.

Bringing it all together, we also learned how systems engineering practices can help complex engineering projects throughout their entire lifecycle – from concept R&D to product realisation and on to retirement. Plus, how Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is an essential framework for streamlining product development, improving process collaboration, and ensuring regulatory compliance.

You didn’t have to understand it all to appreciate it. Feedback across the teams has been overwhelmingly positive, and I would urge other fusion companies to consider a similar event for their people.

You know it’s a winner when people are already asking for the next one. Should we invite fusion industry guests to TechFest II? Would you come? Watch this space.

Stuart White is head of communications at Tokamak Energy, the fusion energy and HTS magnet company based near Oxford, UK, and part of the DOE Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program

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