Full-Time
Burning Plasma Scientist
Thea Energy
51-200 employees
Develops fusion power via planar-coil stellarators
Compensation Overview
$135k - $210k/yr
Newark, NJ, USA
In Person
 AI & Machine Learning (1) |
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- PhD in Plasma Physics, Computational Physics, or related field (or Master’s / Bachelor’s with equivalent research experience)
- Proficiency in programming languages commonly used in scientific computing (e.g. Python, Fortran, C++, or MATLAB)
- Creative problem solving and proven ability to thrive in collaborative environments such as startups or research groups
- Willingness to collaborate with a diverse team of scientists and engineers within the company and externally
- Passion for advancing the field of fusion energy research
- Familiarity with kinetic, MHD or particle-following codes
- Experience developing Machine Learning surrogates for physical systems
- Familiarity with energetic particle diagnostics
- Execute and analyze high-fidelity simulations using particle-following codes to assess alpha particle and neutral beam ion confinement in 3D magnetic geometries
- Investigate Alfvén Eigenmode (AE) stability using kinetic-MHD hybrid codes and assess their impact on energetic particle transport
- Develop reduced-order models and ML surrogates trained on simulation databases to enable real-time prediction of pressure profiles
- Collaborate with the engineering team to iterate on coil designs and divertor configurations to minimize fast-ion losses
- Develop synthetic diagnostics (e.g. Fast-Ion Loss Detectors, Neutron Cameras) to bridge the gap between our models and future experimental campaigns
Thea Energy is developing nuclear fusion technology to provide grid-scale, zero-emission electricity for utilities and large industries. Its approach centers on reimagining the stellarator with flat, planar superconducting coils and software-controlled magnet systems, enabling continuous fusion operation and easier maintenance, while guiding the Eos neutron-source device and the Helios commercial power plant concept. This design differs from competitors by prioritizing manufacturability, lower capital costs, and agile software control over traditional twisted-magnet stellarators, supported by public-private DOE milestones. The company aims to commercialize fusion as a scalable baseload power source and secure long-term power offtake agreements to replace fossil-fuel generation.
Company Size
51-200
Company Stage
Grant
Total Funding
$145.8M
Headquarters
Princeton, New Jersey
Founded
2022
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- Eos can generate isotope revenue before grid power sales.
- Helios targets datacenters and brownfield utility-grid customers.
- The $100 million Series B funds manufacturing and construction through 2030.
What critics are saying
- Eos remains precommercial, so physics setbacks delay Helios.
- Manufacturing planar magnets at scale can fail on yield or cost.
- DOE milestone misses remove public-private de-risking and hurt future fundraising.
What makes Thea Energy unique
- Planar superconducting coils replace complex, twisted stellarator magnets.
- Software-defined controls dynamically shape plasma fields in real time.
- Princeton University and PPPL roots provide deep stellarator credibility.
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Growth & Insights and Company News
6 month growth
↓ -1%1 year growth
↑ 0%2 year growth
↑ 4%Thea Energy, a Kearny-based company, is advancing its fusion power goals with significant backing, including a recent fellowship from Amazon Web Services and the International Research Centre on Artificial Intelligence. A spinout from Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and Princeton University, Thea Energy focuses on commercializing stellarator fusion energy. Since its 2022 founding, the company has raised $30 million in investor funding and received additional non-dilutive funding from the U.S.
To build a fusion power plant, engineers are forced to make some difficult choices. Do they go with the simpler design and then, while in operation, force the plasma to behave so it doesn’t snuff itself out? Or do they opt for a complex design that’s challenging to build but leads to happier plasma?Or what if there was a way to do both?Thea Energy is hoping that “both” is the right answer. The startup is betting that software can supplant manufacturing precision in its quest to deliver reliable, inexpensive fusion power. It has recently raised a $20 million Series A, TechCrunch has exclusively learned. Prelude Ventures led the round with participation from 11.2 Capital, Anglo American, Hitachi Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital, Mercator Partners, Orion Industrial Ventures and Starlight Ventures.There are two main approaches to fusion power: inertial confinement and magnetic confinement. The former made headlines at the end of 2022 for proving that net-positive fusion power isn’t just science fiction by using massive lasers to vaporize a fusion fuel pellet.Many startups, though, are using some variation of the former
Eight U.S. companies developing nuclear fusion energy will receive $46 million in taxpayer funding to pursue pilot plants attempting to generate power from the process that fuels the sun and stars, the Department of Energy said on Wednesday.