Educational Innovations in Fusion Energy and Public Collaboration

As fusion energy research and technologies approach commercialization, early public engagement is critical for understanding public perceptions of the technology as well as preferences for tradeoffs and design choices as these technologies are being developed. Simultaneously, it is important to prepare future fusion researchers and technology developers to integrate this engagement into their research and design work. Long-running inequities in our energy systems must also be addressed as fusion comes online and we work toward a shared, deconbonized energy future. Through this poster, we describe the development, implementation, and outcomes of a new course on the community engaged design of fusion energy technologies at the University of Michigan. As part of this course students received an introduction to nuclear and plasma physics and engineering, alongisde technical communication, qualitative research methods, and participatory design. We propose that the successful implementation of this course suggests that it is feasible and desirable to integrate social and technical considerations into the education and training of future fusion researchers and engineers.