Munich, January 21, 2025 — Proxima Fusion is proud to announce that its Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer, Lucio Milanese, has joined the Board of the Fusion Industry Association (FIA), representing Proxima as the FIA's first European board member.

The Fusion Industry Association is the leading voice of the fusion industry. It is the world’s largest and most international fusion advocacy and industry group. Representing a large majority of the fusion industry stakeholders, the FIA plays a pivotal role in advancing the development and commercialization of fusion energy. With permanent representatives in the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union, the FIA is at the forefront of fostering global collaboration in the fusion sector.

While Europe has undoubtedly been at the forefront of public research in fusion, it has so far attracted significantly less private investment in the sector compared to the USA. However, over the past few years, European startups have stepped up, fostering public-private partnerships and combining venture speed with world-class quality of research. Lucio’s leadership on the Board will amplify the voice of the European fusion ecosystem within the FIA’s global framework.

Lucio joins the existing FIA board, comprised of Bob Mumgaard, CEO of Commonwealth Fusion Systems; Sachin Desai, General Counsel of Helion Energy; Christofer Mowry, CEO of Type One Energy Group; Greg Twinney, CEO of General Fusion; Kate Kelly, Chief of Staff of Avalanche Energy; R David Edelman, Chief Policy and Global Affairs Officer of TAE Technologies; and Ryan Umstattd, VP of Product and Partnerships at Zap Energy.

“I am thrilled to have Lucio join the FIA Board,” said Andrew Holland, CEO of the Fusion Industry Association. “Lucio’s appointment is not just a recognition of Proxima’s strong reputation within the fusion industry, but also a testament to the growing prominence of Europe in the fusion industry. As an organization with global interests and reach, it is important to to strengthen the  international representation within FIA’s governance. I’m confident that this will help drive the development of fusion as a global ecosystem."

In his role as an FIA Board member, Lucio intends to emphasize the critical importance of public-private partnerships to accelerate the deployment of fusion energy. This aligns with the FIA’s mission to promote shared progress in a field poised to transform the global energy landscape.

“Fusion’s success relies on global collaboration,” said Lucio Milanese. “I am honored to join the FIA Board and look forward to contributing to the association’s vision of a united, dynamic fusion industry.”

About Proxima Fusion: Proxima Fusion spun out of the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) in 2023 and has since worked in public-private partnership with IPP to further expand the physics and engineering basis to build the first generation of fusion power plants using quasi-isodynamic (QI) stellarators. Proxima has raised a total of $65M in public and private funding to assemble a world-class team of scientists and engineers from leading companies and institutions including the IPP, MIT, Harvard, SpaceX, Tesla, and McLaren. By taking a simulation-driven approach to engineering that leverages advanced computing and high-temperature superconductors to build on the groundbreaking results of the IPP’s Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) experiment, Proxima is leading Europe into a new era of clean energy, for good.

About the Fusion Industry Association: The Fusion Industry Association (FIA) is the leading voice of the the fusion energy industry. It is a non-profit organization composed of private companies working to make commercial fusion energy a reality. With members spanning across the globe, the FIA is accelerating the development of commercial fusion energy through advocacy and education.