2024 Delegation

Andrew Maris (He/Him)

Vice-President, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Andrew D. Maris is a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate at the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center. Andrew received a Bachelor’s degree from Carleton College in 2019 with a major in Physics and a minor in Public Policy. His research utilizes machine learning to understand, predict, and control instabilities in tokamaks. Andrew’s interests also extend to economic and policy questions, where he has studied the impact disruptions may have on the cost of fusion electricity from tokamaks. 

Promise Adebayo-Ige (He/Him)

Treasurer, University of Tennessee-Knoxville

Promise Adebayo-Ige is a 4th year Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville studying nuclear engineering, and he is the Treasurer of the inaugural Fusion Student Delegation. His research focus is on optimizing heat flux analysis on plasma facing components in fusion tokamaks. Promise joined FuSD because he wanted to learn more about how government, industry, and academia work together to advance Fusion related policy. In his free time he enjoys to read, watch anime, watch Liverpool FC, serve at his church, and referee soccer.

Carli Smith (She/Her)

Secretary, Pennsylvania State University

Carli Smith is a graduate student at Penn State studying hydrogen retention in dispersion-strengthened tungsten materials for plasma-facing components in fusion reactors. She is very passionate about the environment, climate change, and alternative energy advocacy. Outside of research, Carli spends her free time enjoying the outdoors, cooking, traveling, and reading.

Amelia Chambliss (She/They)

Columbia University

Amelia is currently a 2nd-year PhD student at Columbia University working with Professor Elizabeth Paul studying energetic particles and integrability in stellarators. She got her undergraduate degree in Physics at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. She joined FuSD to learn more about fusion energy policy and pursue her passion for energy justice. Amelia hopes to advocate for the needs and rights of underserved communities by encouraging heightened efforts for thoughtful and ethical engagement between the fusion energy experts and the communities they aspire to serve.

Harry Fetsch (He/Him)

Princeton University

Jack Gabriel (He/Him)

The College of William and Mary

Jack is a third-year graduate student in Physics at William & Mary. His research involves computational simulations of neutral particles in the edge region of tokamak plasmas. Jack received his bachelor’s degree in Physics and Math from Rollins College in 2020. In his free time, Jack is an avid triathlete having competed in multiple Half Ironmans and the USA Age Group National Championships.

Jhovanna Garcia (She/Her)

University of Tennessee-Knoxville

Jhovanna grew up in Tijuana, Mexico and San Diego, California. She double majored in Dance and Mechanical Engineering at San Diego State University for her undergraduate degree, and was exposed to the field of fusion during the COVID-19 lockdowns after watching extensive Youtube videos of ITER for a class report on clean energy. Inspired by the ambitious, worldwide effort to create clean energy on a global scale, she participated in two laboratory internships (SULI) with the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. She is now a first year Ph.D. student at the University of Tennessee Knoxville researching materials for fusion reactors in partnership with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. 

Wataru Hayashi (He/Him)

University of California-Irvine

Wataru was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii where he spent a lot of time camping and stargazing. He also witnessed the impact of the energy crisis on Hawaii and the demand for an immediate, low-carbon solution. Currently, he is a plasma physics PhD candidate at the University of California, Irvine where he studies fast ions in stellarators. When he's not working on research he's dog sitting, learning a new language, or hiking.

Angelica Ottaviano (She/Her)

University of California-Los Angeles

Carolina Vazquez (She/Her)

University of Michigan

Carolina received her B.S. (2021) in Chemical Engineering from Columbia University in the City of New York. She is currently a Master's student in Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences with a focus on fusion and plasma physics at the University of Michigan. Her research is focused on: 1) a socio-technical analysis of fusion energy systems, and 2) magneto Rayleigh-Taylor instability and energy dynamics on Dynamic Screw Pinch configured implosions. Outside of research, Carolina enjoys walking her dogs, spending time with family, and baking sourdough.

Juan M. Valderrama (He/Him)

University of Florida

Juan is an undergraduate student and research assistant in the University of Florida’s Nuclear Engineering Program. Juan's research at UF focuses on applying physics-infomed deep learning to problems in fusion energy science. Juan is also an active advocate for increased representation of the Hispanic community in the science field and for raising awareness and support for fusion energy.