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SOSV Deep Tech Live: The 100-Year Quest for Fusion Energy with Steven Cowley, Director of PPPL
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Supriya Agarwal
Supriya Agarwal

Fusion energy has long been called the “holy grail” of clean power because in theory it’s cheap, abundant, clean, and safe. Yet despite 100+ years of scientific research and billions in investment, the profound engineering challenges associated with fusion-based power are far from settled. 

Join us for a fireside chat on April 21, 2026 with Sir Steven Cowley, Director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL).

Sir Steven Charles Cowley is a British theoretical physicist widely regarded as one of the world’s leading authorities on nuclear fusion. Since 2018 he has been the Director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, one of the U.S.’s flagship fusion energy research centers, after having been CEO of the UK Atomic Energy Authority from 2009–2016 and head of the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, where he led the United Kingdom’s national fusion research program.

In this conversation, moderator Duncan Turner (General Partner, SOSV & Managing Director, HAX) and Sir Cowley will explore: 

  • Fusion’s hardest problem: why controlling plasma is so difficult & what’s finally changing
  • The role of AI: how AI & data are accelerating reactor design & plasma stability
  • From lab to grid: what still stands between experiments & commercially viable power
  • Plasma beyond fusion: how plasma physics is transforming semiconductors, advanced manufacturing & quantum devices
  • The role of national labs: how institutions like PPPL & the HAX Plasma Forge are partnering with startups, investors, and industry to bring these technologies to market

📍 Broadcast live from our SOSV NY event space in Manhattan, this is the next installment of SOSV Deep Tech LIVE, our video podcast series exploring the frontiers of deep tech with leading founders, researchers, and technologists. 

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