Lewis Parker

I completed my undergraduate MPhys Degree at Aberystwyth University in 2024, and it was during this course that I found an interest in Density Functional Theory and material simulation as a whole. I’ve also always had an interest in clean energy and fusion, going back to when I first found out about fusion through the ITER website at age 10, and as such when a project with the Fusion CDT in Density Functional Theory was brought to my attention I was incredibly interested. I’m now working on the simulation and design of Tungsten Alloys for use in a Tokamak Reactor.

Tungsten and its alloys are among the most promising candidates for plasma-facing materials in fusion reactors due to their high melting point, thermal conductivity, and resistance to sputtering. However, the extreme environments within fusion reactors pose significant challenges to their structural integrity and longevity. Understanding and predicting the properties of tungsten alloys under these severe conditions is crucial for developing materials capable of withstanding the operational demands of future fusion reactors.

Experimental insights are limited in this field due to accessibility constraints, making it essential to use density functional theory simulation combined with machine learning prediction to understand and subsequently design Tungsten-based alloys for plasma-facing materials. The simulated properties will serve as input data for training machine learning models, enabling rapid predictions of tungsten alloy performance under different conditions and compositions.

Supervisors

• Dr Kirsty McKay
• Dr Xue Yong