Making "what if" a reality; sustainable fusion energy is on the horizon

TAE Technologies CEO Michl Binderbauer shares the private fusion energy company’s origin story.

(edited transcript:)

TAE was founded in 1998 to commercialize fusion power we developed based on work I did with my brilliant mentor and Ph.D advisor Norman Rostoker at the University of California Irvine. What we were after was really a different way to develop fusion. The goal was to have something that's economic, free of any kinds of environmental impact, and has an abundant fuel supply.

We started in 2000 with what we lovingly called the ‘sewer pipe’ which was our first generation device. In fact, it uses all the same technologies and principles that you find on Norman — our fifth generation machine back here.

Norman is a progression of ever more sophisticated National Lab-scale devices to get us to that point of proof of science, to now scale forward to its successor, which we call Copernicus.

Just like when NASA went to the moon in the 60s and developed tons of technology that spilled over into our life today, so we here at TAE Technologies have taken a lot of the things we developed for fusion that now have unique capabilities in other adjacent spaces.

This is the kind of synergy that you will see happening more as we mature technologies. As proud as I am about the developments we've accomplished, it really comes down to the people and the teamwork among these people to support such a quest. We’ve put together some of the best people on the planet necessary to do the work, and that is as much the character of TAE as our innovative spirit and our ability to drive the cutting edge.

After over 20 years of revolutionary groundbreaking work, we’re finally at the point to address the 21st century’s most existential problem — which is how to grow a population and meet the demand for energy without hurting the environment. In addition, there’s the incredible opportunity with the spin-offs, which can also help to contribute in incredibly meaningful ways to improve the quality of life for all of humanity.

Learn more at TAE.com: https://tae.com/

TAE Technologies (pronounced T-A-E) was founded in 1998 to develop commercial fusion power with the cleanest environmental profile. The company’s pioneering work represents the fastest, most practical, and economically competitive solution to bring abundant clean energy to the grid.

With more than 2,300 patents filed globally and approximately 1,400 granted, more than $1.2 billion in private capital raised, five generations of National Laboratory-scale devices built along with two more in development, and an experienced team of over 600 employees, TAE is now on the cusp of delivering this transformational energy source capable of sustaining the planet for thousands of years. The company’s revolutionary technologies have produced a robust portfolio of commercial innovations in large adjacent markets such as power management, energy storage, electric mobility, fast charging, life sciences, and more. TAE is based in California, and maintains international offices in the UK, EU, and Switzerland. Multidisciplinary and mission-driven by nature, TAE is leveraging proprietary science and engineering to create a bright future.