Plenary Talks

Yutaka KAMADA
Deputy Director General, ITER Organization

Yutaka Kamada obtained his PhD from Tokyo University in 1988 and joined the research staff of the JT-60 experiment that same year, rose to senior scientist in 1996, and was eventually appointed Japanese leader of the Europe-Japan JT-60SA fusion project (2008-2020) and Deputy Director General of the Naka Fusion Institute (2018).

Yutaka's direct involvement with ITER began in 1999 when he joined the International Tokamak Physics Activity (ITPA), whose Coordinating Committee he chaired between 2010 and 2013. His participation in the ITER Council Science and Technology Advisory Committee (STAC), which he chaired in 2016 and 2017, brought him even closer to the inner workings and decision-making process of the project, as did his role as Japan's representative to the ITER Council from 2019 to 2022.

Liye XIAO
Professor, Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Prof. Liye XIAO has been working in the energy technology field for more than 20 years. Most of his research activities are related to superconductor applications in the energy and power industry. He lead to successfully build a 10kV superconducting power substation in 2011, and acted as the director of his institute during 2007-2017. Now he focuses his research on energy storage and power transmission grid for the zero carbon goal.

Sataro YAMAGUCHI
Designated Professor, Chubu University

Originally, Sataro YAMAGUCHI studied nuclear fusion. After joining Chubu University in 2001, he developed the Superconducting DC power transmission (SCDC) using high temperature superconductors (HTS), and constructed the 20 m, the 200 m SCDCs inside the university, and 1000 m and 500 m SCDC in Ishikari, Japan.

Byung Su LIM
Professor of Energy Engineering, Korea Institute of Energy Technology (KENTECH)

Byungs Su LIM is a professor at the Korea Institue of Energy Technology. He has worked in the field of superconductivity and superconducting magnets for more than 25 years. He was a former Section Leader of ITER PF Coil/CC Coil Section. He was a team leader of the KSTAR Toroidal Field magnet team. He was a team leader of procurement and test team in ITER KODA office. He worked for Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology as a responsible officer for the KSTAR superconductors. He has a Ph.D. in Metallurgical Engineering, 1998, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul (Korea).

Mike LAMONT
Director of Accelerators and Technology, CERN

Mike LAMONT joined CERN as a fellow in 1989, becoming an engineer-in-charge for SPS/LEP Operations in 1991 and subsequently LEP Machine Coordinator. Following LEP, he became LHC Machine Coordinator, overseeing the preparation for the initial commissioning. From 2009 to 2016, he led the Operations group in the Beams department. In 2017, he became deputy head of the Beams department where, besides departmental duties, he co-coordinated the Physics Beyond Colliders study. In 2021, he became Director of Accelerators and Technology.

Soren PRESTEMON
Director of the Berkeley Center for Magnet Technology, Division Deputy for Technology in the Accelerator Technology and Applied Physics (ATAP) Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Dr. Prestemon did his early studies in mathematics and computational fluid dynamics in Grenoble, France, before completing his Ph.D. in Engineering at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Tallahassee Florida. Since arriving at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) in 2001, he has contributed to the development and implementation of advanced magnet technologies for the next generation of accelerators, including both colliders and light sources. Prestemon is a senior scientist at LBNL and a fellow of the American Physical Society. He serves as the Division Deputy for Technology in the Accelerator Technology and Applied Physics (ATAP) Division at LBNL and as Director of the Berkeley Center for Magnet Technology. He leads the US Magnet Development Program, a national program within the US DOE Office of High Energy Physics focused on developing high-field accelerator magnets for next generation colliders.

Denis LE BIHAN
Founding Director, NeuroSpin, CEA Saclay, Paris Saclay University

Denis LE BIHAN, MD, PhD, is a physician and a physicist. He founded NeuroSpin in Saclay, France, a leading institution of the CEA dedicated to ultra-high field MRI where he set and led the Iseult project (11.7T whole-body MRI). He has received many prestigious awards for his work, such as the Gold Medal of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, the Honda Prize, the Louis D. Award and the Louis-Jeantet Prize. Dr Le Bihan is a full member of the French Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Technologies, the National Academy of Medicine, and an Associate Member of the National Academy of Pharmacy.

Rebecca RAMB
Vice of President Magnetic Resonance Research & Clinical Translation, Siemens Healthineers

Rebecca Ramb became Vice of President Magnetic Resonance Research & Clinical Translation at Siemens Healthineers after several years of experiences as Global Head of MR Collaborations, Product Marketing Manager, as well as several years of active MRI research in academia.

She completed her doctorate in Mathematics and MR Physics at the University of Freiburg, Germany, focusing on Parallel and Echo-Planar Imaging in MR, and was awarded with the Ferdinand-von-Lindemann prize in 2016 for her PhD thesis. Parallel to her research work, Rebecca was an elected member of the university senate, teaching MR physics as avocational training in both, the public and industrial sector. Rebecca later worked as a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the New York University Langone Medical Center, USA, focusing on MR reconstruction.

In her current role at Siemens Healthineers, Rebecca is responsible for the Ultra-High Field MR segment – recently introducing the 7T MAGNETOM Terra.X to the market, new clinical solutions across the clinical fields of MR, and the global collaboration management for Magnetic Resonance.

When she is not completely magnetized by MRI, she enjoys running, yoga, playing the piano – or hiking on high mountains.

Gianfranco FEDERICI
Head of the Fusion Technology Department, EUROFusion

Gianfranco FEDERICI has 30 years of professional experience in fusion engineering and fusion reactor design and R&D, plasma-facing component design and R&D, plasma surface interactions, breeding blanket design and R&D. NET Team (1990-1992); ITER EDA Team (1993-2006); EFDA (2006-2007); Fusion for Energy (2008-2010); EFDA (2011-2013), EUROfusion (2014-today). Today he is responsible for the coordination and technical oversight of the Design and R&D efforts in Europe aimed to the conceptual design of a DEMOnstration Fusion Power Plant (DEMO). Gianfranco Federici has Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering, 1989, University of California, Los Angeles (USA), Master Degree in Nuclear Engineering, 1988, University of California, Los Angeles (USA); Degree in Nuclear Engineering, 1985, Polytechnic of Milan, (Italy).

Jinxing ZHENG
Head of Fusion Engineering Research Division of Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Dr. Jinxing Zheng is engaged in the research of superconducting magnet technology for nuclear fusion device, and he currently works as the head of Fusion Engineering Research Division of Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (ASIPP). He received Ph.D. degree from University of Chinese Academy of Sciences. His research work focus on the key technology of large-scale superconducting magnet system of fusion device in China such as KTX, CFETR, CRAFT project and so on.