Thomas Sunn Pedersen, Ph.D.
Chief Technology Officer
Dr. Thomas Pedersen joined Type One Energy in early 2023 as Chief Technology Officer. His background encompasses three decades in fusion technology, with a focus on designing, building, and managing stellarators over the past twenty years, leading large scientific and technical teams of up to 60 people.
He earned an M.S. in Applied Physics Engineering from the Technical University of Denmark and a Ph.D. in Physics from MIT. Upon his graduation, he joined Columbia University as a faculty member. There, he spearheaded the conception, design, construction, and operation of the CNT stellarator, a device noted for its uniquely simple coil set and substantially relaxed engineering tolerances.
Between 2011 and 2022, Dr. Pedersen was the Director of Stellarator Edge and Divertor Physics at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in Germany, contributing to the leading-edge Wendelstein 7-X stellarator, managing the development of 20 diagnostic systems and advanced research on limiter- and divertor plasmas, culminating in the achievement of stable, fully detached island divertor operation. His work earned him a European Research Council Advanced Grant for pioneering the world’s first laboratory electron-positron plasmas. While in Germany, he also continued his educational and mentorship roles as a professor of Physics at the University of Greifswald.
He has received multiple accolades during his career, including a DOE Junior Faculty Award and an NSF CAREER award. He was elected as a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2015.