In a nutshell:
Chris joined Kyoto Fusioneering (KF) in 2025 as a Senior Engineer in the Blankets Team, specializing in remote-handling and maintainability for fusion systems. Prior to joining KF, he worked across the fusion industry, contributing to projects at organizations including ITER, SCK CEN, TRIUMF, and Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), as well as the Fukushima Daiichi decommissioning program.
Leveraging his expertise in remote-handling and fusion plant engineering, he now supports blanket-related projects at KF and helps strengthen the company’s engineering capabilities in the UK by developing practical solutions for the operation and maintenance of future fusion power plants.
Why did you choose mechanical engineering? Have you been interested in it since childhood?
My dad was a mechanical engineer, and we used to work on cars, fix things around the house, and do various odd jobs together. He even had a lathe for cutting steel in the garage. Growing up, I also had an aptitude for math and physics, but that didn’t push me directly into engineering. If anything, my interest in the field felt like a natural progression, driven by curiosity and practical application.
One thing that really influenced me was a school physics project where we had to accurately measure the resistivity of a wire. What I found interesting wasn’t the measurement itself, but the process of making tools and methods to measure things with precision– and helping others to do that as well.
Looking back, it was really about helping scientists do the work they wanted to do to enable discovery. That’s where I saw myself, even if I couldn’t fully articulate it at the time.
I chose mechanical engineering because it’s a general discipline, and I wanted to study something fundamental and widely applicable. As a kid, I used to play with LEGOs a lot, and I would frequently ride my bike, break it, and fix it myself. When putting my bike back together, I was always fascinated by the mechanisms — the simplicity and beauty of how they all worked together as one system. I also just wanted to do something cool. That’s honestly been a key driver throughout my career. It didn’t matter if it was especially profitable or useful, as long as it was interesting and challenging.
Were you influenced by your parents or environment growing up?
Definitely. Like my dad, my grandfather was a big influence. He wasn’t an engineer professionally, but he built model steam trains and electronic systems. He also had things like an oscilloscope at home just for testing electronics. In fact, when we later cleared his house, we found multiple lathes and a lot of old steel equipment. So, between him and my dad, engineering was all around me growing up.
What did you work on at university, and what challenges did you face?
I did two major projects in university.
The first was a bachelor’s project on 3D printing processes using a diffractive lens. The idea was to improve how polymers were heated in a powder bed system before fusing. This project caught my interest since I already knew the professor and had done well in his coursework on lasers, so I felt like I could understand and think through the problem. The challenging part, however, was making something that actually worked as a real product. For example, we couldn’t allow the product to have bubbles forming inside, so I ran various experiments to identify the root causes of defects.
I enjoyed that part – working through the problem, experimenting, and pushing it further to get to the answer.
The second was a master’s group project on turbochargers. We were challenged with improving the performance of two turbochargers connected by a simple duct. We analyzed the airflow between them and found that it had swirled when entering the duct, reducing engine performance. So, we added a 3D-printed vane inside the interstage duct to remove the swirl. We used Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tools to simulate the airflow – which was challenging since it was my first time using the software, and the tools were relatively primitive compared to what we have now.
After running analyses on the modified engine, we found that we improved engine efficiency by about 1%. It doesn’t sound like much, but when applied to hundreds of engines, this component – a low-cost plastic tube – had a massive impact.
What were the biggest takeaways from those projects?
One major takeaway is that theory only gets you part of the way. In practice, things often behave differently, and you always encounter something you didn’t consider. So, you need the tenacity to go into detail and keep pushing until the problem is truly solved.
I also think it’s important to focus on what the real problem is. In the 3D printing project, the real goal wasn’t 3D printing itself—it was getting plastic to melt properly without defects. The bigger framing can sometimes hide the actual core issue, which is usually in the details.
From the group turbocharger project, I learned the importance of working together, starting early, and letting people play to their strengths while supporting their weaknesses. In the end, I trust that everyone is genuinely trying to contribute.
How did you get into fusion?
My first job after university was at an automobile company in a graduate scheme. During training, I chose to work for the project management department. However, I quickly realized it wasn’t a good fit for me — I preferred the challenge of engineering. Luckily, a friend of mine was working at a tech company at the time and told me they were building robots for fusion, which intrigued me. I only knew about fusion at a conceptual level – the general idea that it’s difficult and not yet fully realized. However, the work seemed like a fun challenge and capitalized on my engineering degree. So, I applied – and I’ve been in fusion ever since.
That position introduced me properly to the fusion industry. My mentors were experts in the field, and I received valuable opportunities early-on to design fusion systems for ITER and the Studiecentrum voor Kernenergie (SCK) research center in Belgium — organizations I would later work for directly. It was an excellent environment to start in.
How did you learn remote handling, since it was new to you?
While there are some formal guidelines and documents about remote handling, I learned most of it on the job – doing the work myself and drawing from experienced colleagues.
At its core, remote handling is just an engineering problem with extra constraints. In radioactive environments, you can’t use certain materials – electronics die, wireless communications fail, and plastics degrade. So, you have to significantly reduce your design space to what will function in that environment and then try to make it as robust as possible.
That process—understanding your limitations and operating strategically within them—is the key part of learning remote handling.
What was it like working in both the private and public sectors of the fusion industry?
Throughout my career, I moved a lot between the private and public sectors. First, at a tech company, I was seconded multiple times to public organizations such as ITER, SCK, and TRIUMF (TRI-University Meson Facility). Even my private company work was largely funded by public institutions like the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA). I didn’t feel a significant difference between the public and private sectors since we were constantly working together — it was like two sides of the same coin. Even if funding changed, the mission was the same: to develop fusion energy to help society.
I have noticed a recent momentum shift with the amount of private investment and enthusiasm entering fusion, driven partially by developments like high-temperature superconductors. It’s interesting because it introduces a real drive toward making fusion more than a government-funded research effort, but rather a profitable enterprise.
What were your proudest career moments before joining KF?
Before KF, one of my greatest achievements was delivering the investigation system for the Fukushima Daiichi NPP to Mitsubishi Heavy Industry so that it could do inspections within the Unit 2 reactor. This project not only challenged me technically but also developed me as a leader. I directed the systems engineering function and constantly facilitated communication between the Japanese and the UK teams. Even though it was a difficult project with a tight deadline, we collaborated closely with each other and delivered a final product that fulfilled the program’s goals.
Another moment that stands out is when I delivered the design of a size reduction facility for a vacuum vessel replacement system on secondment to CFS. This was a bespoke facility built around the design of the ARC, fusion power plant, and the concept has a patent pending. I felt this was a project that truly proved my capacity as an engineer.
I am also genuinely proud of the work my team and I completed at ITER on hot cells, Test Blanket Modules (TBM), and tritium breeding blanket systems. We delivered a hot cell that was significantly more realistic and appropriately sized, as well as a methodology for the post irradiation examination and transport of the TBMs. I led the project from concept to completion, navigating technical challenges with my team — it showed me how far I had come as both an engineer and a leader.
What are you doing at KF?
Currently, I’m a senior engineer on the Blankets team, with a focus on remote handling aspects across projects. I’ve worked on assignments such as solid breeder blankets, cost modeling for STEP, and shielding projects for the UKAEA.
The work we are doing on remote handling may lead to a service that we can provide to the industry, and the solutions may have applications for other systems, such as diagnostics, and other industries such as nuclear fission and space.
I’m also working to strengthen our capability within KF’s UK operations, particularly around handling and maintenance of blanket systems. I think it’s important to build our credibility and visibility to establish KF as a serious contender for STEP blanket partnerships. By doing so, we could really solidify KF’s position in the UK and the fusion industry as a whole.
When did you feel the most accomplished at KF?
One highlight was presenting our work on the COMPASS (Composite Materials for Precision Adsorption in Spectrum Specific Systems) shielding project. It was demanding, but we produced quality results. I was one of the technical leads on the project, so I presented the team’s findings at a showcase event. To represent such an impressive team was truly an honor.
I am also proud of the work we did on our breeding blanket demonstrator project. This was challenging since we didn’t have all the capabilities internally and had to contact external companies to collaborate. However, we delivered a strong final product using advanced techniques, and the customer was thrilled in the end.
What do you want to achieve at KF and in fusion?
I think it would be a massive achievement if KF became the STEP blanket partner and made remote handling a core capability — particularly for blanket systems, but also more broadly for in-vessel components.
Fusion is a highly integrated problem. The design of the blanket affects the shielding, which affects the magnets, and so on. Everything depends on each other. This creates major challenges and trade-offs, and each impacts the handling and maintenance of these systems. At KF, I want us to solve these complex problems for the fusion industry — and I believe that we can do it.
