Fusion technology, channeling the power of isotopes to create energy, is inching closer to commercialization every year with a cluster of companies founded in Wisconsin leading the pack.

Wisconsin has been at the forefront of fusion technology for decades thanks to the state’s research universities, according to several experts in the field. Recent advancements in technology have led those same experts to believe that new fusion plants will be up and running within the next decade.

“We see no roadblocks,” said Chris Hegna, Ph.D., vice president of stellarator optimization and co-founder of Type One Energy. “It’s just a matter of us executing.”

Hegna and his co-founder, David Anderson, Ph.D., met during their time working as faculty members at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Anderson serves as Type One Energy’s vice president of systems engineering.

Anderson built three different stellarators (a device used in fusion energy research) during his 42-year tenure at UW. Hegna, whose background is in theoretical plasma physics, watched Anderson with interest as he developed the school’s HSX (Helically Symmetric eXperiment) program over the span of two decades.

“Born out of the frustrations of working with the federal government on making fusion work, we founded (this) company together,” said Hegna.

Read more in the BizTimes.