The world has an energy problem and providing long-term sustainable solutions to this is what drives me. The career choices I’ve made have always been characterised by societal impact, intellectual challenge and taking a bold step to something new. My career has taken me on a tour of the UK’s advanced gas-cooled and pressurised-water reactors, the world’s most complex construction project at ITER, and most recently the bleeding-edge high-temperature superconducting SPARC tokamak. These have led me to conclude that economies of scale will only truly be achieved if the innovation and learning cycle is short and can be iterated upon rapidly.I have 20 years’ experience as an I&C engineer through nuclear fission power plants and fusion research facilities. I’ve worked with almost every kind of I&C system and component in these projects, from MHz data acquisition and kHz multi-dimensional plasma control down to 1970s binary logic using thermocouples, trip-amps and safety relays. Throughout the early years my aim was to make the AGR fuel handling control systems reliable, to allow the fuel cycle to keep ahead of the hunger of the reactors. I took that understanding of operational focus and power generation to fusion, changing the mindset from that of a lab to that of a plant, designing for high availability, reliability and long life-times. In turn, fusion taught me the importance of flexibility, of building a control system that’s capable of much more than its requirements because the capability of the machine must not be constrained by the I&C. Joining a startup showed me the dynamism that the nuclear industry and national labs generally lack and the importance of agility and low-friction processes in making rapid progress.I am galvanised by building energy sources, combining innovation, productionising cutting-edge technologies and the hard practical need of generating energy for people and industry and is what I strive to do in my career. My ultimate career goal is to build a fusion power plant.