Short Courses
Registration for short courses can be done while registering for the conference.
1. Design of Superconducting Magnets for Particle Accelerators and Detectors
| Date: | Sunday, September 6, 2026 |
| Time: | 8:30 am – 5:00 p.m. |
| Location: | The Westin Pittsburgh – Room TBD |
| Fee: | Full conference participant early: $350; regular: $425; onsite: $500 Student participant early: $275; regular: $325; onsite: $375 Fee includes a continental breakfast and coffee breaks. |
| Instructors: | Susana Izquierdo Bermudez and Herman ten Kate |
Course Description: This course covers the design of superconducting magnets for particle accelerators and detectors. The lectures are intended for physicists and engineers working in the areas of magnet technology and applied superconductivity, and interested in basic principles, physical parameters, analytical and numerical tools used for superconducting magnet design. For each of the applications considered, the courses will start by presenting the properties and characteristics of superconducting strands and cables. The main concepts related to magnetic design and coil lay-outs will be then outlined. In addition, the lectures will deal with the mechanics and fabrication techniques of a superconducting magnet, focusing in particular on coils and the structural components aimed at containing the electro-magnetic forces and managing the stresses. Finally, a description of the different systems devoted to cool and protect a magnet after a quench will be provided.
2. High Temperature Superconductors: From the Materials to Magnet Technology
| Date: | Sunday, September 6, 2026 |
| Time: | 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. |
| Location: | The Westin Pittsburgh – Room TBD |
| Fee: | Full conference participant early: $350; regular: $425; onsite: $500 Student participant early: $275; regular: $325; onsite: $375 Fee includes a continental breakfast and coffee breaks. |
| Instructors: | Teresa Puig and Daniel Davis |
Course Description: This course addresses the current state and prospects of high temperature superconductor (HTS) technology. After forty years of arduous development, three high-Tc cuprate materials have been developed into long-length composite conductors with high critical current density at magnetic fields or temperatures beyond the reach of Nb-Ti and Nb3Sn. The scope of the course is to illustrate the close synergetic relationship between the development of a deeper understanding of the material properties and the progresses in the conductor technology, with a focus on high field magnet applications. The course is organized in four parts:
- An introduction to high temperature superconductivity;
- The basics of HTS conductor fabrication (REBCO coated conductors, BSCCO-2223 tapes and BSCCO-2212 wires), including latest developments to improve performance;
- An overview of the electromagnetic, electromechanical and thermophysical properties of tape, wire, and cable conductors;
- Critical issues and innovative design concepts for the HTS-based magnets with an overview of noteworthy ongoing projects, including magnets for >1 GHz NMR spectroscopy, high-field fusions, and the next generation of high energy particle colliders.
3. Superconducting Power Devices
| Date: | Sunday, September 6, 2026 |
| Time: | 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. |
| Location: | The Westin Pittsburgh – Room TBD |
| Fee: | Full conference participant early: $350; regular: $425; onsite: $500 Student participant early: $275; regular: $325; onsite: $375 Fee includes a continental breakfast and coffee breaks. |
| Instructors: | Tabea Arndt, Kiruba S. Haran, and Antonio Morandi |
Course Description: Power devices using Superconductors (especially High-Temperature Superconductors HTS) can be designed to have outstanding performances e.g. very high capacity, efficiency and/ or compactness and have the potential to be transformative, enabling the transition to sustainable energy and transportation. However, design and engineering have to be adopted to access the full potential using HTS. The short course on Superconducting Power Devices will be organized in four slots covering:
- Superconducting transmission and distribution – Part 1: Power cables (AM)
- Superconducting transmission and distribution – Part 2: Fault current limiters (AM)
- Superconducting rotating machines – Part 1 (KH)
- Superconducting rotating machines – Part 2 (TA)
The short course will cover the basic design of each application and present appropriate case studies underpinning the designs. The short course will provide an overview on present limitations, future directions and research needs in the field of these Superconducting Power Devices.
4. Superconducting Electronics
| Date: | Sunday, September 6, 2026 |
| Time: | 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. |
| Location: | The Westin Pittsburgh – Room TBD |
| Fee: | Full conference participant early: $350; regular: $425; onsite: $500 Student participant early: $275; regular: $325; onsite: $375 Fee includes a continental breakfast and coffee breaks. |
| Instructors: | Robert L. Fagaly, Steve Anlage, Akira Fujimaki, Britton Plourde, and Karl K. Berggren |
Josephson Junctions, SQUIDs and their applications by Robert L. Fagaly
This 90-minute introductory course, led by Dr. Robert L. Fagaly, Chair of the IEEE Council on Superconductivity’s Committee on Standards, provides a foundational overview of Josephson junctions and SQUIDs. The course begins with the underlying physics of the Josephson effect, explaining how Cooper-pair tunneling enables precise control of supercurrents. Attendees will learn how these junctions serve as the building blocks of the Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID), the most sensitive magnetic flux detector available today. Dr. Fagaly will transition from theoretical basics to practical architecture, detailing the differences between RF and DC SQUIDs and their essential role in modern technology. The lecture highlights real-world applications ranging from biomagnetism (MEG/MCG) and geophysical exploration to their emerging importance as superconducting qubits for quantum computing hardware. By the end of the session, participants will have a clear understanding of how these macroscopic quantum phenomena are harnessed for sensors that measure infinitesimal signals and for standards that realize the Volt in the international system of units (SI).
RF superconductive electronics by Steve Anlage (University of Maryland)
This tutorial session will begin with a quick review of the basics of superconductivity and BCS theory, with a focus on electrodynamic properties. Discussion of complex conductivity and surface impedance, both in the Meissner-state and in the mixed state with magnetic vortices. We then introduce applications that make use of the unique electromagnetic properties of superconductors, including high-Q superconducting radio frequency cavities for particle accelerators, as well as planar high-Q resonators, microwave kinetic inductance detectors, low insertion-loss microwave filters, and Josephson-based travelling wave parametric amplifiers.
Fundamentals of Energy-Efficient Superconducting Digital Circuits by Akira Fujimaki (Nagoya University)
The appeal of superconducting digital circuits lies in their ultra-low power consumption and high-speed operation. Because these circuits operate at the same temperature as superconducting qubits, they are increasingly expected to enable efficient readout and control of quantum states through three-dimensional integration or monolithic on-chip integration. In this lecture, I will first introduce the principles of the rapid single flux quantum (RSFQ) circuits, which form the foundation of superconducting digital electronics. While various energy-efficient circuit schemes have been proposed, they all encode binary information using the presence or absence of a magnetic flux quantum in a superconducting loop. The RSFQ circuits were the first to systematically realize this concept. I will then present several emerging energy-efficient superconducting digital circuit technologies, highlighting their operating principles, advantages, and challenges, including their potential applications in memory systems.
Physics and Engineering of Superconducting Qubits by Briton Plourde (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Superconducting qubits are one of the leading systems for implementing a quantum computer. There have been significant advances in the performance of these Josephson junction-based circuits over the past two decades, and there is currently rapid progress in the development of systems with more than 100 qubits. In this short course, we will discuss the design principles for building qubits from superconducting elements and implementing quantum gates. We will discuss various decoherence mechanisms and limits to gate fidelities. Looking forward, we will consider challenges associated with scaling to large-scale quantum processors based on superconducting circuits.
Photodetectors and Cryotrons: Superconducting Nanowires for Photodetection and Electronics by Karl Berggren (MIT)
Superconducting photodetectors and sensors are a critical technology for photonics and sensing, particularly for scientific applications such as astronomy, dark matter search, and quantum information processing. As such, they represent a significant opportunity for the superconducting electronics community. Could superconducting electronics solve the readout problem (getting large datasets out of the cold environment efficiently)? Could superconducting electronics be used to add intelligence onto the sensor, so that uninteresting events can be rejected in the cold environment, and bandwidth to the outside world can be used efficiently? Interestingly, superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors are fabricated using a simple single-metal-layer process that is compatible with fabrication of a new category of electronic devices based loosely on the famous cryotron developed in the 1950s. Today, scaled to nanometer dimensions, cryotrons show promise for use in detector readout, handling large signals, and developing dense, low-error-rate memories. Cryotron-based diodes have also been developed recently that could be used to develop on-chip power electronics in the cryostat. In this presentation, we will review superconducting detectors, focussing on nanowire-based single-photon detectors, and discuss the various devices and circuits.
5. Superconducting Magnet Testing
| Date: | Sunday, September 6, 2026 |
| Time: | 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. |
| Location: | The Westin Pittsburgh – Room TBD |
| Fee: | Full conference participant early: $350; regular: $425; onsite: $500 Student participant early: $275; regular: $325; onsite: $375 Fee includes a continental breakfast and a coffee break. |
| Instructors: | Marta Bajko, Vincenzo Di Capua, and Theodore Golfinopoulos |
This course covers aspects related to the testing of superconducting magnets. The lectures are intended for physicists and engineers who are:
- Working in the areas of magnet technology and applied superconductivity.
- Interested in the basic principles of testing, and of test facility construction.
Part 1. General Introduction Superconducting Magnet Test by Marta Bajko (CERN)
- This lecture introduces the fundamental concepts and practical challenges associated with superconducting magnets and their testing, with particular relevance to accelerator applications. It begins with the basic principles of superconductivity, a state of matter which exists only within a critical surface defined by temperature, magnetic field, and current density. The lecture reviews the key parameters governing superconducting performance and their testing including critical temperature, critical current density, and the influence of mechanical strain. The lecture then discusses important physical and operational phenomena in superconducting magnets, including quench events, stabilization mechanisms using copper matrices, and the large electromagnetic energies stored in magnet coils. The implications of these factors for magnet protection and reliability are highlighted, with examples from the LHC. Additional concepts such as magnet training and memory effects during current ramping are presented. Finally, the lecture outlines the role of dedicated test facilities and the procedures used to validate superconducting magnets before operation. These include electrical integrity checks, instrumentation verification, and systematic testing on specialized stands to ensure performance, safety, and reliability. Overall, the lecture provides an overview of the physics, technology, and testing methodologies that underpin modern superconducting magnet systems used in high-energy accelerators.
Part 2. Testing Accelerator magnets and Magnetic Measurements by Vincenzo Di Capua (CERN)
- This training course focuses on the testing of low-temperature superconducting (LTS) magnets used in accelerator applications. The session will present an overview of the full lifecycle of a superconducting magnet within a test facility, from its arrival and preparation to final validation and release. Participants will be introduced to the main test procedures, including electrical, cryogenic, magnetic, and protection system tests, as well as the instrumentation and data acquisition systems used during magnet qualification. Particular attention will be given to practical aspects of test preparation, execution, and data analysis. The training will also include real case examples drawn from operational experience at CERN, illustrating typical challenges encountered during magnet testing and the strategies adopted to diagnose and resolve them. The goal of the course is to provide participants with a practical understanding of the methodologies and best practices used in the qualification of superconducting accelerator magnets.
Part 3. Testing HTS coils for fusion by Theodore Golfinopoulos (MIT)
- Research into fusion power production – especially via magnetically confined plasmas – is in the midst of a renaissance. This is due in no small part to the enormous opportunities for fusion represented by the advent of high-temperature superconductors (HTS). These opportunities derive from the fact that the power yield in magnetically-confined fusion plasmas scales as the magnetic field to the fourth power, and the promise of ReBCO magnets to enable higher-field magnets and corresponding gains in power density has inspired significant private investment into the field. In this segment of the 2026 ASC short course on magnet testing, we will explore the topic from the perspective of fusion magnet development, with special attention paid to the HTS magnets that have been envisioned as the core technology for a number of high-profile fusion power plant designs.
- We will first describe several archetypal magnetically confined fusion concepts – tokamaks, stellarators, and others – in order to provide context for the jobs fusion magnets need to do, the challenges these jobs entail, and typical approaches to tackling those challenges, anchoring the discussion with several examples of magnets that have been built to address these needs. We’ll briefly review why we test coils, and what typical experiments are looking to explore: performance in steady-state and pulsed operation, AC losses, assessment of joints, mechanical characterization, thermohydraulic characterization, Paschen curves, properties of individual conductors, properties of unit-cells tested at sub-scale, performance after cycling, and so forth. We’ll also cover the testing of the ancillary services critical to magnet function, including quench detection and fast discharge, instrumentation, current leads, cold bus, cryogenic systems, control systems, and general procedures and equipment for handling, installing, and operating the magnet. We’ll look at several case studies of different test facilities in fusion that have addressed particular problems, covering facilities for both low- and high-temperature superconductors. We’ll also compare testing research coils to production coils, and the typical expectations and risk calculus involved in these tests. We’ll briefly compare testing insulated and non-insulated coils, the latter featuring in a number of well-known HTS magnets, including the toroidal field magnets of SPARC. Lastly, we’ll work through a toy example of developing a nascent industrial fusion magnet test program, where we will consider choosing when to take on risks and when to pass on risks, adapting to existing external facilities and developing in-house capabilities, scoping a research magnet and experimental campaign, and other related topics.
Short Course Instructors
Steven M. Anlage is a Professor of Physics and member of the Quantum Materials Center, as well as faculty affiliate of the Departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineering, at the University of Maryland, College Park. He received his B.S. degree in Physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1982, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Applied Physics from the California Institute of Technology in 1984 and 1988, respectively. His post-doctoral work with the Beasley-Geballe-Kapitulnik group at Stanford University (1987 – 1990) concentrated on high frequency properties of high temperature superconductors. In 1990 he was appointed Assistant Professor of Physics in the Center for Superconductivity Research at the University of Maryland, then (1997) Associate Professor, and finally (2002) Full Professor of Physics. He was the interim Director of the Center for Nanophysics and Advanced Materials (2007-2009), and is a member of the Maryland NanoCenter. In 2011 he was appointed a Research Professor at the DFG-Center for Functional Nanostructures at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany, and in 2019 a Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies at Loughborough University.
His research in high frequency superconductivity has addressed questions of the pairing state symmetry of the cuprate and heavy fermion superconductors, the dynamics of conductivity fluctuations and vortices, and microwave applications including several generations of superconducting metamaterials, most recently studying rf SQUID metamaterials. He has also developed and patented a near-field scanning microwave microscope for quantitative local measurements of electronic materials (dielectrics, semiconductors, metals), and developed a version that images the local nonlinear properties of superconductors. Prof. Anlage utilizes superconductors to enhance studies of photonic topological insulators and wave-chaotic microwave resonators.
Dr. Anlage is a member of the American Physical Society, the IEEE, and the Materials Research Society. His research is funded by the US National Science Foundation, the US Department of Energy, and the US Department of Defense.
Tabea Arndt holds a PhD in Physics from the University of Karlsruhe, Germany. After working at Vacuumschmelze GmbH/ Hanau, EAS & EHTS /Hanau, Bruker Biospin/ Hanau and Siemens Corporate Technology/ Erlangen, in 2019 she joined KIT/ Karlsruhe/ Germany, faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology as a co-director of the Institute of Technical Physics leading the research field “Superconducting Magnet Technology”. She worked in a variety of public funded and industrial projects (NMR-s, MRI-, laboratory and industrial magnets and applications in Electrical Engineering like SFCL, Motors/ Generators and cables). She was member/ board member/ chairperson of Conectus, ISIS and representative to ESAS and now serves as the curator of the German Ministry of Economy and Climate’s Research Field “High-Temperature Superconductivity” in “Energy Efficiency in Industry”. Since 2008 she is a delegate to the IEA TCP HTS. For a number of years she served as a member/ deputy chair of an engineering review panel for ERC-grants and as a reviewer for several foundations and state organizations. Since 2021, her research field at ITEP coordinates a collaborative research project on HTS and liquid hydrogen within the German National Hydrogen Strategy. Recently, the research team is addressing challenges in applications of windings and magnets based on 2G-HTS, again. In 2023, the “Award for Continuing and Significant Contributions in the Field of Applied Superconductivity, Large Scale” was awarded to her at the MT conference, Aix-en-Provence, France.
In 2023, the “Award for Continuing and Significant Contributions in the Field of Applied Superconductivity, Large Scale” was awarded to her at the MT conference, Aix-en-Provence, France.
Marta Bajko is a senior mechanical engineer at CERN, where she supervises the construction and operation of the integrated test stand for the HL-LHC project. This facility is essential for validating the collective performance of the new Interaction Region components before their installation in the LHC tunnel. She leads a dedicated team of engineers responsible for the installation and operation of this key testing infrastructure.
With around ten years of experience in superconducting magnet testing, Marta previously worked at CERN’s SM18 test facility, where she led a multidisciplinary team in developing a versatile test stand for superconducting devices, enabling vertical and horizontal testing of magnets, links, and current leads.
Earlier in her career, she was the responsible engineer for the production of one third of the LHC dipoles and led part of the R&D for the construction of the dipole cold masses at CERN. She also participated in the LHC hardware commissioning as a magnet expert and began her career working on magnet design.
Marta is strongly engaged in the superconducting magnet community and serves as Chair of the Superconducting Magnet Test Facility Workshop, fostering international collaboration in the field.
Prof. Karl K. Berggren is the head of the electrical engineering faculty and is the Julius A. Stratton Professor in Electrical Engineering and Physics at MIT in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, where he co-leads the Quantum Nanostructures and Nanofabrication Group. From 1996 to 2003, Prof. Berggren served as a staff member at MIT Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington, Massachusetts, and from 2010 to 2011, was on sabbatical at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands.
His current research focuses on superconductive circuits, vacuum-electronic devices, single-photon detectors for quantum applications, and quantum-electron-optical systems.
Prof. Berggren is a fellow of AAAS and a fellow of IEEE. He is a Kavli fellow, and a recipient of the 2015 Paul T. Forman Team Engineering Award from the Optical Society of America (now Optica). In 2016, he received a Bose Fellowship and was also a recipient of the EECS Department’s Frank Quick Innovation Fellowship and the Burgess (‘52) & Elizabeth Jamieson Award for Excellence in Teaching. In 2024, he was named an MIT MacVicar fellow for excellence in undergraduate teaching.
Vincenzo Di Capua received his Master’s degree in Electronic Engineering from the University of Naples Federico II and later obtained a PhD in Information Technology and Electrical engineering, with research focused on magnetic field measurement and modeling in particle accelerator magnets.
He joined the CERN in 2018 as part of his master’s research project, working on real-time magnetic field measurement techniques for accelerator magnets. His doctoral research further expanded into the modeling of magnetic hysteresis phenomena, including the application of artificial intelligence methods to improve predictive models for superconducting accelerator magnets.
He is currently working at CERN as a Magnet Test Engineer, contributing to the testing and qualification of low-temperature superconducting (LTS) magnets for particle accelerators. His work spans the entire testing lifecycle, from the definition of test strategies and procedures to test execution, monitoring, and detailed analysis of experimental results. He is actively involved in the development of instrumentation and cryogenic electronics for advanced measurements and diagnostics in superconducting magnet systems.
In addition he is part of the IT-String operation team and involved in the commissioning and operation activities for the HL-LHC IT-String.
Daniel Davis
- 2019: PhD in Condensed Matter Physics, Florida State University, Thesis on Quench protection of Bi-2212 HTS magnets
- 2019-Now: Postdoc then Visiting Faculty then Research Faculty at the NHMFL’s Applied Superconductivity Center
- Focus in HTS magnet R&D with a particular focus on Bi-2212 technology as well as cable solenoid development furthering implementation of HTS in applications such as compact research magnets, NMR, HEP, and fusion
- Key Developments: Developing 12 T, 161 mm test-bed with 10 kA capability and cyclic fatigue testing CORC solenoids; Upgraded large volume over-pressure furnace for Bi-2212 reaction
Dr. Robert L. Fagaly is a distinguished physicist and a leading authority on the commercialization and application of superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs). He currently serves as the Chair of the Committee on Standards for the IEEE Council on Superconductivity and is the Chair of the Rosner Award Committee. Dr. Fagaly is a co-founder and former Vice President of Tristan Technologies, where he spent over a decade developing ultrasensitive magnetic measurement systems. His career includes senior research roles at Quasar Federal Systems and Leidos, focusing on cryogenics and electromagnetism. He has authored numerous influential publications, including the comprehensive review “Superconducting Quantum Interference Device Instruments and Applications”. His work has been pivotal in advancing biomagnetism—particularly neuromagnetic instrumentation—and the development of high-temperature superconducting (HTS) SQUID magnetometers. He earned his Ph.D. in Physics and was the last post-doctoral student of Dr. Harold Weinstock, a renowned figure in the field of superconductivity.
Akira Fujimaki received his B.E., M.E., and D.Eng. degrees from Tohoku University in 1982, 1984, and 1987, respectively. He was a Visiting Assistant Research Engineer at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1987. Since 1988, he has worked on superconducting devices and circuits at Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan, where he is currently a Designated Professor. Since 2025, he has also been affiliated with the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology. His current research interests include analog and digital applications of π-junctions, as well as SFQ-based integrated circuits.
Theodore Golfinopoulos s responsible for the Superconducting Magnet Test Facility (SMTF) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center, having led the effort to build the facility between 2019 and 2021. The SMTF was originally constructed to test the SPARC tokamak’s ReBCO-based Toroidal Field Model Coil, built under a collaboration between MIT and Commonwealth Fusion Systems over this same time period. The facility has since been adapted to test SPARC’s Central Solenoid Model Coil, among other test articles coming from MIT’s collaboration with CFS. It recently completed testing of the non-planar “M0” stellarator research coil with Type One Energy, and continues to seek new collaboration opportunities. Ted also led the effort to construct a separate facility at the PSFC to provide a flexible platform for performing electrical tests in liquid nitrogen; this has been used extensively for process development and component commissioning. Prior to and in parallel with this work, Ted performed research on the Alcator C-Mod tokamak, and has also collaborated with the Tokamak à configuration variable (TCV) at École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland. His principle areas of research in tokamaks include edge plasma turbulence and transport; magnetohydrodynamics phenomenology; scenarios for ELM-free operation, including negative triangularity plasmas; and diagnostic design. He continues to participate in plasma physics research in parallel with his work in HTS magnets.
Ted joined MIT in 2006 and never left. He finished his masters work in 2009 in the Electrochemical Energy Lab before moving to the Plasma Science and Fusion Center for his doctoral studies, completing these in 2014. He has remained at the PSFC since, first for a postdoc, and then as research staff.
Kiruba S. Haran (Fellow, IEEE) received the B.Sc. degree in electronic and electrical engineering from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife City, Nigeria, in 1994, and the Ph.D. degree in electric power engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA, in 2000.
He is a professor of electrical and computer engineering with the University of Illinois, Urbana– Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA. He spent 13 years with GE Research, Niskayuna, NY, USA, as a Senior Engineer and a Manager with Electrical Machines Laboratory developing and validating megawatt scale superconducting machines for airborne power systems. His research interests include high-specific-power electrical machines and drives, with both superconducting and noncryogenic approaches. He has over 20 years of experience in developing electric machinery and is a co-founder of Hinetics LLC (spin-off of UIUC) focusing on compact air-core electric technology.
Susana Izquierdo Bermudez holds a PhD from the Technical University of Madrid. She is currently a Staff Scientist in the Superconducting Magnets and Cryostats Group at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva. She joined the CERN Magnet Group in 2010, contributing to the preparation activities for the First Long Shutdown of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). In 2012, she moved to the Magnet Design and Technology Section, where she worked in the development of high-field Nb₃Sn accelerator magnets. Since 2020, she has been responsible for the Nb₃Sn inner triplet quadrupole magnets for the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC). As of 2024, Susana leads CERN’s Large Magnet Facility Section, overseeing the construction of magnets and cold masses for the HL-LHC upgrade. In 2025, she also assumed leadership of the worldwide collaboration responsible for building the interaction region magnets for the HL-LHC, scheduled for installation in 2029.
Antonio Morandi holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering. Since 2006, he has been with the Department of Electrical, Electronic and Information Engineering of the University of Bologna, where he is professor of Electrical Engineering, Electric Energy Storage and Applied Superconductivity. His research focuses on power applications of High Temperature Superconductors and advanced energy systems. He has coordinated and contributed to several research projects funded by public agencies and private companies, and has worked on the prototyping of superconducting power apparatus (FCL, SMES and power cables) as well as on modelling and design tools. He serves as reviewer of research projects for the European Commission, the Italian Ministry of University and Research, and international research institutes, and is member of several program committees in international conferences. Antonio Morandi is member of several scientific associations, serves on the ASEF Board, and is president of the Italian chapter of the IEEE CSC Council. He chaired HTSModelling2016 and co chaired the 16th European Conference on Applied Superconductivity (EUCAS 2023) in Bologna-Italy. He is a senior member of IEEE and associate editor for the IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity.
Britton Plourde received a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2000 studying vortex dynamics in superconductors. From 2000 to 2004, he was a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California, Berkeley where he worked on experiments with superconducting flux qubits. He joined the Department of Physics at Syracuse University in 2005 where he built up a low-temperature research lab for investigating various aspects of superconducting circuits for quantum information processing. In 2024, Plourde moved to the University of Wisconsin-Madison and also joined Qolab, a Madison-based quantum computing startup company. Plourde’s key contributions to the physics and operation of superconducting qubits and related circuits include the development of tools for qubit control and readout, and investigations of decoherence mechanisms and mitigation techniques for improved qubit performance. Prof. Plourde is a Fellow of IEEE and the American Physical Society, and he received a CAREER award from the NSF and an IBM Faculty Award. From 2013-2019 he was the Editor-in-Chief for IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity, and from 2021-2022 he was the Editor-in-Chief for IEEE Transactions on Quantum Engineering.
Teresa Puig, PhD in Physics, is Research Professor and group leader of the Superconducting materials group at the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC). In the last 18 years, she has been the head of the Department of Superconducting Materials and served as elected board member of the European Society of Applied Superconductivity (ESAS) and Board member of IEEE – CSC (Council of Superconductivity). She is board member of the National Strategy for Fusion in Spain. Since the discovery of High Temperature Superconductors (HTS), she has worked mainly in these materials, contributing in advanced thin film growth, vortex physics and integration of HTS in applications. Since the beginning of Coated Conductors (CCs) research, her group pioneered the use of low cost chemical solution methods and strongly contributed to the understanding of vortex pinning. In the las 10 years, she has been strongly pushing high throughput preparation of coated conductors by the Transient Liquid Assisted growth – TLAG process, invented in her group. Lately, she is very interested in high throughput processes using combinatorial chemistry for the fabrication of coated conductors, as well as in customization of coated conductors for applications in energy and high energy physics, with strong collaborations with CERN. She has always been interested in building bridges between academic knowledge and industrial needs, which also enabled many collaborations with industry. She was co-founder of Oxolutia S.L. spin-off (2010-2020) devoted to oxide superconducting coatings. She is an ERC advanced holder who has led and contributed to prominent European and international projects and participated in numerous forums and meetings, supervised more than 30 PhD students, and received several national awards.
Herman ten Kate (Dutch, born in 1955) is Emeritus Professor at the University of Twente where he was educated and stared his carrier in 1980; since 1997 occupying the Chair of Industrial Application of Superconductivity. In addition he worked at CERN from 1996 until his retirement in April 2020 as Magnet System Project Leader of the ATLAS Experiment, comprising the world’s largest operational superconducting magnet of three huge toroidal magnets and a solenoid. With his team he supported other detector magnet developments and coordinated dedicated R&D for new particle physics experiments like for the Future Circular Collider, linear colliders as CLIC/ILC, antimatter detector PANDA, neutrino detector BabyMIND and solar axions detector (Baby)IAXO. He continued his work at CERN as honorable member and contributing retiree at the Experimental Physics Department. In July 2013 he received the IEEE lifetime Award for Continuing and Significant Contributions in the Field of Applied Superconductivity. At the University of Twente he continued his work for guiding PhD students, participating in various magnet review committees, and supporting various R&D projects in collaboration with industries and institutes around the globe.