Cesare, a 17-year-old student studying Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry, and Physics at Cardiff Sixth Form College, has achieved remarkable success building a highly sophisticated nuclear fusor reactor in school. Cesare, who achieved four A*s in his A levels today plus an A* in his EPQ, has been in discussions to work full-time role at Bristol University after showcasing his reactor during the Cambridge Science Festival, representing Cambridge, where he demonstrated its potential alongside Imperial College, Bristol and Bangor universities.
Dr Yannick Verbelen, a senior associate from Bristol University impressed by Cesare’s work, asked him to spend next year in the Interface and Analysis Centre at Bristol University working on the construction of larger reactors, fusors and proton sources.
Cesare, who is from Italy and joined Cardiff Sixth Form College as a boarder for his A levels, is self-taught in the electrical and coding aspects of his work. His inspiration to build a nuclear fusion reactor, with the aim of generating neutrons, came from watching a YouTube video. He approached the school who helped him with a £5,000 budget and has been working not only with the Head of Physics, Dr Pearson, but also with a PhD student from Cambridge University.
Said Cesare: The college was initially concerned that this project, which I have also used for my EPQ, was dangerous. However we did full risk assessments and the staff have been so supportive. I had to adapt the design to fit in with the budget and my aim is to encourage other young people to develop ideas and think about how we can improve our world and be innovative. The purpose of the reactor is to produce the necessary conditions for fusion to take place. However, as we cannot get the same pressure achieved by the Sun’s own gravity here, we have to use a high voltage to get the atoms hot enough.”
Cesare plans to pursue a BEng in Engineering. He intends to apply to universities during his year working with Dr Verbelen in Bristol.
Said Principal, Dr Julian Davies: “This is an extremely exciting project and has taken 1.5 years in the making. We want to give our students the opportunity to work on projects that interest them as well as teaching them how to pass exams and to be brave in enabling them to take risks and develop projects that are applicable to real life situations. Cesare has been outstanding in his work ethic and will no doubt make a significant impact on the energy industry in the future”.
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