People Skill Crossovers Are of Massive Benefit To The Commercial Fusion Energy Industry

Commercial fusion companies have traditionally hired from the outside and then integrated new workers into the fusion mindset, but some are now recruiting from other industries specifically for their skills and thinking. Inertia’s hiring of Sam Crisafulli as Chief Systems Engineer, after 29 years of senior and executive experience including 12 years with ASML’s Plasma Generation and Energy Control Group, is one example. The Fusion Report outlines six adjacent industries whose skills transfer well to fusion: semiconductor manufacturing and lithography, aerospace and defense, fission, chemical processing, and LNG, electric utilities and grid equipment, advanced manufacturing and precision fabrication, and construction and major-project delivery. Systems engineering stands out as the most valuable crossover capability. A successful commercial fusion company could end up looking more like an OEM such as GE Vernova, Siemens Energy, or Mitsubishi Power than a Department of Energy national laboratory.