MFE-IM Team
MFE-IM is a group of the Magnetic Fusion Experiments (MFE) division of the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC). We are a team of scientists, postdoctoral researchers and graduate students, and we host visiting and undergraduate students to carry out short-term cutting-edge projects with us. We actively collaborate with other groups at the PSFC and from the worldwide fusion energy community.
Pablo Rodriguez-Fernandez
research scientist, Group Leader
Pablo RF (he/him, pablorf@mit.edu) works as a research scientist at the MIT PSFC and leads the MFE-IM group. Currently, Pablo focuses on the development of the PORTALS framework to enable prediction of tokamak plasmas from first-principles turbulence simulations. He collaborates with experimental teams at ASDEX Upgrade, JET and DIII-D tokamaks to validate transport models and build confidence in reactor designs.
Nathan Howard
PRINCIPAL research scientist
Nathan Howard (he/him, nthoward@psfc.mit.edu) is a principal research scientist at the MIT PSFC and leads the Performance and Transport group, formed as part of the MIT/CFS collaborations. Nathan’s research interests lie in multi-scale gyrokinetics, impurity transport validation, high performance computing and machine learning enhanced transport models. Nathan actively collaborates with the DIII-D tokamak, where his team operates the laser-blow off system to study experimental impurity transport.
Aaron Ho
Research Scientist
Aaron (he/him, aaronkho@mit.edu) is a research scientist working at the MIT PSFC. Aaron’s research combines plasma transport knowledge with machine learning techniques to build fast surrogate models, with the aim of using them in the design and operation of tokamak devices
Arsene Tema Biwole
Postdoctoral associate
Arsene TB (he/him, biwole@mit.edu) is a postdoctoral associate at the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center. Arsene runs the MIT Laser Blow-off (LBO) system installed on DIII-D. His research focuses on core impurity transport studies in view of future fusion devices, e.g. ITER and SPARC. His other interests include science promotion and educational outreach activities.
Marco Muraca
Postdoctoral associate
Marco Muraca (he/him, mmuraca@mit.edu) works as a postdoctoral associate at the MIT PSFC and has joined the MFE-IM group in Summer 2023. Currently his focus is on the prediction of relevant plasmas for the SPARC and ARC tokamaks, in collaboration with Commonwealth Fusion Systems, with the transport codes TRANSP and ASTRA.
Rachel Bielajew
Postdoctoral FELLOW
Rachel Bielajew (she/her, bielajew@mit.edu) is a postdoctoral fellow at the MIT PSFC. Rachel works at the intersection of experiment and modeling – using the Correlation Electron Cyclotron Emission diagnostic at ASDEX Upgrade to measure electron temperature fluctuations in ELM-free high confinement regimes, and comparing these experimental turbulence measurements with simulated turbulence from gyrokinetic simulations.
Jamal Johnson
Graduate student
Jamal Johnson (he/him, jamalj@mit.edu) is a graduate student in the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering. His research focuses on creating machine-agnostic, fast neural network surrogates for turbulent transport models. The prediction of diffusive and convective transport coefficients for a broad range of tokamak impurities is a central component of the network designs.
Audrey Saltzman
Graduate student
Audrey Saltzman (she/her, audreysa@mit.edu) is a graduate student in the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering at MIT. She is interested in automating the optimization of fusion power plant designs, with consideration to economic outcomes. Outside of work, Audrey enjoys practicing gymnastics and escaping into the woods.
Vincent Galvan
Graduate student
Vince Galvan (he/him, vgalvan@mit.edu) is a PhD student in the department of Nuclear Science and Engineering at MIT. He is interested in modeling core plasma turbulence in the SPARC tokamak and utilizing machine learning to accelerate the process whenever possible. When not training ML models, Vince enjoys all things concerning Chicago sports (except the White Sox), riding his motorcycle, and lasagna.
Joe Hall
Graduate student
Joe Hall (hallj@psfc.mit.edu) joined the MFE-IM group as a graduate student in Fall 2023. Their primary interest is modeling turbulent transport and performance in future fusion power plants. Current projects include working on physics predictions for ARC. Outside of work, Joe can usually be found running along the Charles, spending too much time in Trader Joe’s, and climbing rocks.
Ivan Marshall
Graduate student
Ivan Marshall (he/him, imars23@mit.edu) is a graduate student in the MIT Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering. He is interested in core to edge modelling of impurity transport in tokamaks and validation of transport models against experiment. Outside of the office, Ivan enjoys practicing gymnastics, cooking, and homebrewing honey wine.
Javier Pimentel
VISITING student
Javier Pimentel (he/him, javier_p@mit.edu) is a visiting student at the PSFC and has joined the MFE-IM group in September 2024. He has a background in Aerospace Engineering and is interested in plasma and fusion behavior, with the goal of achieving positive net energy and developing promising space plasma propulsion-based engines. Outside of work, Javier enjoys practicing team sports, engaging in intellectual debates, and playing the piano.
Adrian Martin
VISITING student
Adrian (he/him, amsanabr@mit.edu) is a computer scientist specializing in artificial intelligence. He joined the MFE-IM group as a visiting student from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain. His research centers on applying AI to optimize and enhance plasma simulations. Outside of work he enjoys playing guitar or bass and watching/talking about movies.
José Aguilera
Fall 2023 & Spring 2024
Visiting Student, Masters
(Universidad Politécnica de Madrid)
Lucas Shoji
Spring 2023
Undergraduate Student
(MIT Nuclear Science and Engineering)
Subhash Kantamneni
Spring 2022
Undergraduate Student
(MIT Physics & Computer Science)
Benjamin Spector
Summer 2021
Undergraduate Student
(MIT Mathematics & Computer Science)