S2E4: ITER Robots - Connecting as Humans

This special 8-minute episode features the Private & Public Fusion Workshop that was held from May 27-29 at ITER. The episode interviews many players in the private & public fusion arena, including Andrew Holland from Fusion Industry Association, Melanie Windridge from Fusion Energy Insights, and Communications Director Laban Coblentz about their thoughts of the workshop, and also offers a sneak peak into Season 3.   Available to listen to on the ITER Website, Spotify, Podbean, Apple, and all your favorite podcast channels!

A terrific experiment in the making since decades, ITER is a giant not only in sheer size, but in knowledge, complexity, and inspiration.    In this last episode of Season 2, we take a look at how Laban Coblentz, the Communications Director at ITER is bringing its existence into the limelight.  In this interview, we speak about not only the challenges, but also his objectives and personal motivations for the organization. 

Meet the ITER Spouses - five women & man from India, China, Korea, Belgium and the Netherlands who speak about their journeys of moving to the small Provençal towns in and around Manosque to support their spouses on this fantastic voyage into the ITER World. From raising children, learning the ropes of living in Provence, rebuilding identities, and taking life into their own hands, this episode is perfect for other families who may move to ITER in the future, for other expats or for the simply curious. 

What do a 14 year old in the south of France, a robot competition, and a scientist at a pioneering nuclear fusion experiment have in common?    The love for coding and human collaboration! In this episode, I follow middle and high schoolers to the annual competition in Provence known as ITER Robots, where about 500 students are competing to make the best robots ever - ones that mimic the challenges at ITER such as remote handling.   The bright youth share their journey, enthusiasm and their take on a potential future filled with AI and robots. Next, I speak with the co-organizer of the competition, Sophie Soufflet-Jacquis, following a warm-hearted finale of song and speech which wraps up the event in all its originality. 

This episode speaks with 2 young fusion enthusiasts who come from two distinct backgrounds yet convey a similar sense of purpose and passion for fusion - communicator Harry Kelso from the US and physics student Aleksandar Stojcheski from Macedonia. We speak about how they fell for fusion, how the youth perceives this energy source and what advice they'd give to other students and professionals who are curious about fusion.  

This interview takes us along to the heart of The ITER’ World - the assembly hall and Tokamak Pit, where a group of visitors from France, Thailand and the Netherlands have decided to come to Provence on their holiday and visit the ITER construction site. They give their impressions about ITER’s impressive goals and their honest take on nuclear fusion energy. Next, we speak to one of ITER’s visit guides, Kirsten Haupt who gives us insight into why so many people - both scientists and laymen - come to visit the site, who they are, and what her experience is as a guide at one the world’s largest human collaborations to date. From the Outside In, learn more about the inner workings of ITER and join in this audio tour!

Welcome to Season 2, The ITER World from The ITER Podcast. The first episode of this Season follows three exceptional women who have dominated their field and are pursuing their aspirations with ITER. The host, Kruti Mawani Fayot, speaks with engineers Aakanksha Saxena and Karina Vergara not only about the challenges, but also the advantages they have encountered as pioneers in nuclear fusion energy. Shira Tabachnikoff, ITER’s communication manager and co-founder of Women in Fusion, joins the discussion on the importance of creating a community for women in STEM and nuclear fusion fields. Descend with us in to THE ITER WORLD on the website, World Radio Paris, Youtube, and all your favorite podcast channels. 

Economic investment and boom in businesses and attention to nuclear fusion energy, COP26 presence – why. 

There’s simple, there’s complicated, there’s complex and then, there’s ITER.  This episode delves into why and how an international organization can function on an In-Kind Contribution system, and how does it deliver all its highly technical promises – literally. We interview experts on how they transporting massive, one-of-a-kind components on-site after having agreed on such a unique In-Kind economic system, rather than the common product and service payment system. 

 I am with a special guest on this episode: a physicist, politically savvy negotiator, caring manager, and fascinating speaker who has been a supporter of fusion energy since his university days, and with ITER since its birth. We will be speaking with Akko Mass about the history of ITER: how it was conceived, how it is developing today and what his hopes are for the future of this organization.