PREPARE FOR A FUSION CAREER
Fusion power plants have the potential to deliver affordable, clean and nearly limitless energy to the nation and the world. With growing industry funding for both inertial confinement fusion (ICF) and magnetic confinement fusion (MCF), commercially viable fusion power plants are getting much closer to reality.
This is truly an exciting time for engineering and computer science undergraduate and graduate students to prepare to join the rapidly emerging fusion workforce across the country.
Solving the final challenges required to develop commercially viable fusion energy requires a highly skilled technical workforce from a wide range of engineering and computer science disciplines. Demand for this fusion workforce is growing -- and so are the opportunities to make a decisive difference in the global race to achieve practical fusion energy.
WE NEED A ROBUST
FUSION WORKFORCE
Faculty across UC San Diego are working on some of the most difficult and most important problems that must be solved in order to make fusion energy a practical reality. These professors lead experimental and theoretical research labs that cover a wide range of subject areas within engineering, computer science, materials science, artificial intelligence and data science. There are exciting opportunities for UC San Diego students from many different disciplines to gain the experience they need to join the fusion engineering workforce and make an impact in the field of fusion.
Fusion Education Spotlights
Rohan Shah: applying robotics to fusion energy
May 28, 2025
Rohan Shah recently graduated with an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from UC San Die...
Alumna Tammy Ma on fusion engineering workforce needs
May 19, 2025
Jacobs School alumna Tammy Ma, who is now lead of the Inertial Fusion Energy Institutional Init...
Marlene Patino, Fusion Energy Scientist
May 19, 2025
Marlene Patino, an assistant project scientist in the Center for Energy Research at UC San...
San Diego Fusion Ecosystem
The Place for Partnerships
UC San Diego is the place for fusion R&D partnerships -- and this makes it THE place to prepare for a fusion career. For both magnetic and inertial fusion, we have research teams and facilities that are essential for addressing the toughest challenges that must be solved – quickly – to unleash the positive benefits of practical fusion energy. We are well versed in delivering on R&D partnerships with startups, long-established companies, National Labs and other universities.
Learn more
Fusion AI Center
General Atomics and UC San Diego launched a Fusion Data Science and Digital Engineering Center in March 2025. The new center sets the stage for deeper collaborations in advanced digital engineering, AI, machine learning, and high-performance computing as part of a multi-step effort to fast-track fusion energy development while reinforcing California’s leadership in fusion research and innovation. Learn more
UC San Diego's DIII-D User Agreement
UC San Diego is located within one mile of the U.S. Department of Energy’s DIII-D National Fusion Facility, which is operated by General Atomics and is home to the largest tokamak in the country. Thanks to a new institutional user agreement, UC San Diego personnel, including qualified graduate students, can now apply for access to the DIII-D tokamak facility even without being directly tied to a dedicated multi-year grant. Learn more
Why Invest in Fusion Engineering Education?
Industry-university collaborations are key to helping companies solve the toughest fusion-engineering challenges as quickly as possible. There are many opportunities to partner with UC San Diego to solve tough challenges holding back practical fusion energy while simultaneously training the fusion workforce of tomorrow.
Fellowships for graduate students pursuing fusion-relevant research are one way to help build up the fusion engineering workforce in the US while moving the needle on relevant challenges.
Industry and philanthropic support for graduate student cohorts, core laboratories, seminars and curricula development are all crucial for winning the global race to unlock the promise of fusion energy.
Interesting in exploring philanthropic opportunities in fusion education at UC San Diego? Contact Adrienne Bolli, Executive Director of Development for the Jacobs School of Engineering at abolli@ucsd.edu or (619) 709-4054.
