Simon received his PhD in Physics from Durham University in 2022 under the supervision of Prof. Damian Hampshire. His doctoral research focussed on the optimisation of future Tokamak power plants for reduced operational risk (by making use of “training coils” – made more attractive with Remountable toroidal field coil limbs) and minimised capital costs using the PROCESS systems code, hosted by the UK Atomic Energy Authority.

In October 2021 Simon joined UKAEA’s Materials Research Facility and performs extensive magnetic characterisation of irradiated superconductors for fusion applications. He works closely with Oxford University and the STEP team; leading projects with aims to develop world-first irradiated superconductor characterisation capabilities; namely:

•        high-flux cryogenic neutron irradiation

•        cryogenic gamma/neutron irradiation and simultaneous testing

•        high-field, variable angle, variable strain, variable temperature post-irradiation measurements

Simon is a keen member of IEEE CSC YP, IOP and ESAS and hosts an international, 4-monthly informal workshop on the irradiation of superconductors.