Kronos Fusion Energy Incorporated is at the forefront of developing advanced aneutronic fusion technology, aiming to achieve a fusion energy gain factor (Q) of 40. Our mission is to provide clean, limitless energy solutions for industrial, urban, and remote applications.
The founding leadership of Kronos Fusion Energy is built around scientific and engineering innovators whose experience spans nuclear engineering, compact-tokamak design, superconducting magnet development, aneutronic-fuel research, and high-level strategic systems planning. Priyanca Ford, Founder and Executive Board Member, leads the strategic direction of Kronos by integrating her background in statistical modeling, algorithmic planning, and systems-level commercialization strategy. She developed the organizational architecture, multi-disciplinary research structure, and long-horizon development roadmap that unifies plasma-physics research, REBCO magnet engineering, and scalable compact-reactor deployment. Her academic foundation includes advanced training in quantitative analysis, mathematical modeling, and systems optimization, enabling her to link scientific development with long-range commercialization and national-energy-infrastructure alignment.
Dr. Gerald Kulcinski, Co-Founder and Aneutronic Fusion Engineer at Kronos Fusion Energy, is one of the world’s foremost authorities on helium-3 fusion, direct-energy-conversion physics, nuclear heat-transfer systems, and aneutronic-fuel-cycle engineering. He earned his Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, following earlier graduate work and research roles within nuclear-rocket programs at Los Alamos. As former Associate Dean for Research and Director of the Fusion Technology Institute, he spent decades advancing helium-3 fusion science, proton-boron energetics, neutron-lean reactor design, plasma-wall interaction models, and advanced reactor-safety frameworks. His career includes contributions to NASA advisory councils, national-lab collaborations, and multiple federal technology committees.
Dr. Carl Weggel, Co-Founder and Chief Scientist for S.M.A.R.T. Design at Kronos Fusion Energy, brings more than 50 years of leadership in superconducting magnet development, compact-tokamak architecture, neutron-source engineering, and high-field magnetic-confinement system design. He completed advanced degrees in engineering and physics, culminating in a Ph.D. focused on high-field magnet structures and plasma-confinement behavior. His work includes world-record magnet systems for national laboratories, compact neutron-source devices, cryogenic platform development, and superconducting-coil optimization frameworks that shape Kronos’s compact Helium-3 tokamak geometry.
Dr. Robert “Bob” Weggel, Co-Founder and Magnetic Field Design Lead at Kronos Fusion Energy, earned advanced degrees in engineering and applied physics, specializing in superconducting-magnet performance, REBCO-conductor optimization, Lorentz-force structural engineering, and extreme-field stabilization. His design work spans MIT, DOE laboratories, NASA programs, and particle-accelerator facilities, supporting REBCO-based high-field coils, magnetic-topology shaping, and compact-reactor magnet structures essential for Kronos’s fusion architecture.
Bandel L. Carano serves as Senior Board Member for Finance and Strategy for Kronos Fusion Energy. With four decades as Managing Partner at Oak Investment Partners, he provides commercial scalability expertise. He earned his B.S. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, focusing on systems engineering, signal processing, and high-technology commercialization. His background informs capital strategy, financial modeling, and commercialization of high-field aneutronic fusion systems. Patrick Schweiger, Board Member for Fusion Device Engineering, has more than 40 years of experience designing fusion-device components, plasma-heating systems, neutral-beam injectors, vacuum-vessel structures, and high-power RF systems. His engineering degrees in mechanical and nuclear design supported major contributions across European and U.S. fusion programs. Dr. Kulcinski also participates in this section in a combined scientific and governance capacity, supporting Kronos’s long-range reactor strategy.
The Kronos Fusion Energy Science Advisory Board unites leading physicists, engineers, materials scientists, and computational specialists from the U.S. and international fusion community. Dr. Wilfred A. Cooper, expert in plasma equilibrium theory, earned advanced degrees in applied physics and engineering, contributing foundational work in MHD stability, force-balance modeling, and analytic confinement frameworks. Dr. Konstantin Batygin, Chief Mathematician, holds a Ph.D. in Planetary Science from Caltech and a B.S. in Physics from UC Santa Cruz. An internationally recognized mathematician and astrophysicist, he contributes nonlinear-systems modeling, reactor-geometry optimization, field-line analysis, and confinement-simulation mathematics. Dr. Paul S. Weiss, Board Advisor for Materials and Nanotechnology, holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Physics from UC Berkeley and earlier degrees from MIT, contributing leadership in atomic-scale materials engineering and nanoscale precision characterization. Dr. Siegfried Glenzer, Science Advisor for Plasma Physics, earned his Ph.D. in Physics and leads major high-energy-density plasma research, contributing insights into turbulence suppression, plasma heating, transport dynamics, and diagnostic systems. Dr. Nasr Ghoniem, Board Advisor for Materials Science and Nuclear Engineering, holds a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering with additional master’s degrees in physics and engineering. His UCLA research focuses on radiation-damage modeling, defect evolution, and high-temperature alloys for nuclear systems. Dr. Peter Hosemann, specialist in irradiation-resistant materials, earned his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from UC Berkeley and researches welding science, mechanical behavior of irradiated materials, and materials-joining strategies for fusion components. Dr. Jack Dongarra, Board Advisor for High-Performance Computing, holds a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from the University of New Mexico and is a global leader in HPC architectures, numerical algorithms, and supercomputing standards critical to reactor-simulation and digital-twin environments. Dr. Patrick H. Diamond, Science Advisor for Plasma Turbulence and Transport, holds a Ph.D. from UC San Diego and is one of the world’s most cited experts in plasma transport and turbulence theory. Dr. Siegfried Glenzer, Dr. Carl Weggel, and Dr. Bob Weggel continue within this section as essential scientific contributors to confinement, magnet systems, and plasma-physics modeling.
The Operations Team at Kronos Fusion Energy spans supply-chain strategy, commercialization, national security, legal architecture, environmental policy, and enterprise-level integration. Michael Laughlin, Chief Operating Officer, oversees organizational operations, commercialization alignment, investor development, cross-team coordination, and the integration of research, engineering, marketing, governance, and strategic partnerships across Kronos. His background includes advanced leadership in business development, commercialization infrastructures, and executive-scale operational systems. Vijay Gehani, Supply Chain Component Manager, holds engineering and operations-management degrees and directs supplier qualification, component sourcing, REBCO procurement, cryogenics and diagnostics acquisition, and reactor-fabrication logistics. National-security advisors include Brian C. O’Neill, whose intelligence and risk-analysis background is supported by advanced academic training in national security; Major General (RET) Robin L. Fontes, a West Point graduate with advanced degrees in international security and strategic studies; Major General (RET) Paul Pardew, who specializes in defense procurement and military acquisition with formal DoD advanced contracting education; and General (RET) Gustave F. Perna, former four-star Army General and COO for Operation Warp Speed, whose background includes extensive logistics and supply-chain command roles. Additional commercialization and governance contributors include Peter Ashley (finance and investment), Andrea Romero (marketing and strategy), Jonathan Foreman (legal and IP architecture), Michael De Frenza (technology licensing and IP transfer), David Beck (fusion commercialization), Jon Michel Greenwood (systems architecture), Martin Owens (advanced licensing and reactor-policy planning), Marc Strecker (legal governance, J.D. from Emory; B.S. in Computer Science from Brown), Sushma Bhatia (environmental and legislative policy), and Keith Longtin (nuclear-technology commercialization). Priyanca Ford provides enterprise-level leadership, strategic governance, and systems alignment across Kronos’s scientific and business domains.
The Technology Validation & Audit Committee includes 14 confirmed scientific advisors overseeing validation of plasma physics, superconducting magnets, materials performance, cryogenics, confinement modeling, pulsed-power initiation, and probabilistic-risk assessment. Dr. Joseph V. Minervini, Science Advisor for Magnet Engineering, holds advanced degrees in mechanical and nuclear engineering and spent decades at MIT developing superconducting-magnet systems for tokamaks and experimental confinement devices. Dr. Patrick E. Hopkins, Science Advisor for Extreme Thermal Materials, holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University with expertise in ultrafast heat transfer, high-temperature interfaces, and fusion thermal-loading behavior. Dr. Mitchell Pryor, Science Advisor for Robotics and Automation, earned a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and specializes in autonomous robotics for high-energy facilities. Dr. Travis Knight, Science Advisor for Advanced Nuclear Fuels, holds a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from Purdue University and leads fuel-cycle and materials research at the University of South Carolina. Dr. Gary S. Was, Science Advisor for Structural Integrity, holds a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Michigan and is a global authority on radiation-assisted materials degradation. Dr. Donald A. Spong, Science Advisor for Plasma Theory, earned a Ph.D. in Plasma Physics and is a senior theorist at ORNL specializing in neoclassical transport and 3-D magnetic geometry. Dr. Earl E. Scime, Science Advisor for Helicon Sources, holds a Ph.D. in Plasma Physics and leads plasma-confinement research at West Virginia University. Dr. Patrick H. Diamond, Science Advisor for Plasma Turbulence, holds a Ph.D. in Physics and is one of the world's most cited plasma-theory experts. Dr. Ahmed Hassanein, Science Advisor for Plasma–Material Interactions, holds a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering and is known for erosion and plasma-wall modeling. Dr. Philippe Lebrun, Science Advisor for Cryogenics, holds advanced engineering degrees in cryogenic systems and spent decades at CERN developing superconducting-magnet cryoplants. Dr. Stephen O. Dean, Science Advisor for Fusion Policy, earned his Ph.D. in Physics and formerly led major DOE fusion-policy efforts. Dr. David A. Hammer, Science Advisor for Pulsed-Power Fusion, holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Cornell and specializes in high-energy-density plasmas. Dr. Guido Van Oost, Science Advisor for Magnetic Confinement, holds a Ph.D. in Applied Physics and is a senior figure in tokamak transport and edge-plasma studies. Collectively, these 14 experts provide rigorous scientific verification for Kronos’s high-field, aneutronic fusion systems.
The Generator Design Leads integrate advanced magnetic engineering, confinement geometry, plasma physics, materials science, and pulsed-power initiation systems to architect the S.M.A.R.T. Helium-3 fusion generator. Dr. Ruben Fair, Board Advisor for Magnet Design, holds engineering degrees in electrical and nuclear engineering and has decades of experience designing superconducting-coil systems and ITER-compliant magnet architectures. Dr. Carl Weggel and Dr. Robert Weggel serve as foundational leaders for REBCO high-field magnet system development, coil structures, confinement topology, and compact-reactor magnetic shaping. Dr. Siegfried Glenzer contributes diagnostic and plasma-physics modeling expertise essential for turbulence understanding, transport modeling, and heating optimization. Dr. Gerald Kulcinski provides helium-3 fusion-cycle leadership and direct-energy-conversion research. Patrick Schweiger brings decades of reactor-system engineering, including plasma heating, vacuum integration, and neutral-beam systems. Dr. Frank J. Wessel, Science Advisor for Pulsed Power, holds advanced degrees in physics and electrical engineering and contributes expertise in plasma-startup and fast-discharge systems. Dr. Konstantin Batygin strengthens field-line mapping, confinement prediction, and mathematical optimization for reactor geometry. Together, these design leads establish the scientific and engineering foundation for Kronos’s compact aneutronic fusion reactor system.