RAISE: CET: Building the Fusion Future - Identifying and Bridging the Workforce Gap for the Emergent Fusion Energy Industry

This Research Advanced by Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering (RAISE) award is made in response to Dear Colleague Letter 23-109, as part of the NSF-wide Clean Energy Technology initiative. The transition to a sustainable and clean-energy future requires both rapid expansion of existing renewable technologies and expedited development of emerging energy sources. Fusion energy, a promising and potentially scalable solution, could become a vital part of overcoming this energy challenge. With the emerging fusion private sector, successful fusion energy commercialization could play a critical role in driving towards net-zero emissions targets and strengthening energy security; however, achieving this goal requires a diverse and skilled workforce. This project aims to address the anticipated technical and engineering skill gap in the emerging fusion energy industry. It does so through a comprehensive education and workforce development plan composed of digital and online education resources as well as hybrid digital-through-hands-on experiential education and training methods that can scale to support an informed citizenry and diverse STEM workforce nationwide. The first objective of this project is to identify the educational requirements precipitated by the energy sector's inclusion of fusion technology. Subsequently, this project will develop an innovative fusion technology curriculum, enriched with virtual reality simulators including a digital twin of the Columbia University Tokamak for Education device. The project will develop and disseminate a hybrid curriculum that aims to enhance the proficiency of students and incumbent workers, fostering the cultivation of a competent, diverse fusion technician and engineering workforce. A cross-disciplinary hybrid curriculum will be employed, integrating classroom, virtual, and hands-on learning experiences to expand and diversify the pool of fusion technicians and engineers. To support these goals, this project seeks to foster strong collaborations by forging new connections between educators, researchers, national laboratories, national and regional workforce development entities and the wider fusion industry. This consortium will facilitate the dissemination of curriculum to a broader audience, ensuring extensive adoption and spread. The project will directly support training of undergraduates, PhD students, and postdocs in the development of educational tools and curricula, as well as engage a broad range of students at the collegiate and K-12 levels through testing and application of the developed resources. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.