Francesco Sciortino Co-founder and CEO of Proxima Fusion Location: München, Bayern, Deutschland Education: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Doctorate in plasma physics and fusion energy, 2016–2021) Overview: I am a co-founder and CEO of Proxima Fusion, a European fusion energy company, spun out of the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics. 1. Europe’s €411 Million Answer to the Fusion Race (July 8, 2026): On February 27, we started our fundraising round. On May 27, we signed a termsheet. 2. Fusion as a Growth Bet for Europe (June 19, 2026): In Europe, people talk about energy as a cost. On the other side of the Atlantic, they talk about it as an industry. 3. The Wrong Question About Fusion (April 2, 2026): There aren’t two consecutive days where someone doesn’t ask me whether fusion will power the grid by 2030, 2040 or… 4. Europe’s Turning Point for Fusion: Why Bavaria’s €400M Bet on Proxima Matters (March 4, 2026): Last week was a big one. Let me break down what it means – not just for Proxima, but for Europe's fusion future. • Post on Dennis Whyte's Appointment: Very excited by the news that Professor Dennis Whyte will be the next CEO of the UK Atomic Energy Authority! Dennis was Director of the Plasma Science and Fusion Center at MIT during my time at the institute. In April 2016, at an Open House event for new grad students, Dennis was key in persuading me to launch my Boston adventure, together with my cofounder Lucio Milanese. • Post on Ahmed Diallo Joining Proxima Fusion: Ahmed Diallo joining Proxima Fusion is one of those things we would have never dared to hope for when we kicked off this endeavour. Met more than 10 years ago at Princeton. In 2022, he took on the role of Program Director for ARPA-E. As Head of Global Partnerships, Ahmed will bring people together to accelerate fusion. • Proxima Fusion Industrial Development Board: Featuring Luc Rémont, Erich Clementi, Ann Mettler, and Michael Bolle. • Open-Source Development: VMEC++ open-source repository crossed 230 stars and 35 forks on GitHub, modernizing the 1980s Fortran codebase into C++ and Python. • National Fusion Hubs (Germany): Proxima Fusion forms the backbone of the Magnetic Fusion Hub (STRIDE) alongside Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, RWE, Forschungszentrum Jülich, KIT, TUM, Bayern Innovativ GmbH, and Gauss Fusion, and contributes to the MAT-TRIX Fuel Cycle and Materials Development Hub. • Proxima Fusion - Co-founder and CEO • Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics • EUROfusion • Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Doctorate in plasma physics and fusion energy (2016–2021) • Imperial College London - MSci Physics with a Year in Europe (2012–2016) • École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) (2014–2015) • BP Dean's Award (Feb. 2015) - BP, Imperial College London • Best Talk Award - UCL-ICL Undergraduate Research Conference (Jan. 2015) • Best Talk Award - ICPS 2014 (Aug. 2014) - EPS, DPG, and IAPS • Imperial College Union Colours (June 2014) • RAS Undergraduate Research Bursary (April 2014) - Royal Astronomical Society • Royal College of Science Full Colours (June 2013) • Cooper Prize for Physics (Oct. 2012) - Dallam Foundation • Investigation on Plasma Microturbulence in Advanced Scenarios of the TCV Tokamak (Jan. 2015–July 2015): Studied plasma microturbulence suppression and transport barrier formation using Tangential Phase Contrast Imaging (TPCI) on the TCV tokamak. • Inductive power transfer methods for longitudinally implanted intrafascicular electrodes (July 2013–Sept. 2013): Produced a critical review and finite element modeling on inductive power transfer methods in thin-film polymer-based coils. • A transfer matrix method for graphene multilayers (May 2013–June 2013): Optical spectrum calculations predicting reflectance, transmittance, and absorbance of multilayer dielectric slabs with graphene layers. • 5th Order 1 dB Ripple High Pass Chebyshev Type I Filter (April 2013): Analyzed, simulated (LTspice IV), and experimentally tested a Chebyshev type I filter. • Experimental investigation on refrigeration properties of stainless steel plates, heat transfer cements, and refrigerant flow rates (July 2012–Aug. 2012). • President - Consulta Provinciale Studentesca - Viterbo (Oct. 2009–Oct. 2010) • Vice-President - Consulta Provinciale Studentesca - Viterbo (Oct. 2008–Oct. 2009) • Executive Committee Member - International Association of Physics Students (Aug. 2014–Aug. 2015) • Events Coordinator - Imperial College Physics Society (Sept. 2013–Sept. 2014) • Education Coordinator - Imperial College Robotics Society (Sept. 2013–Sept. 2014) • Co-founder & Executive Committee Member - Associazione Italiana Studenti di Fisica (Aug. 2014–Sept. 2017) • Italian (Native or bilingual) • English (Full professional proficiency) • French (Fluent) • Spanish (Good working knowledge) • German (Good working knowledge)