Plenary Speakers

Plenary Speakers

Prof. Michael Eisterer

TU Wien

Plenary Title: Neutron Irradiation effects on magnet materials(Tentative)

Michael Eisterer is leading the Department of Low Temperature Physics and Superconductivity at the Institute of Atomic and Subatomic Physics, Vienna University of Technology. His group is specialized in the characterization of superconducting materials for both, a fundamental understanding and in view of applications. The in-house fission research reactor has led to a focus on radiation effects and has been used for decades to introduce defects in superconducting materials by fast neutron irradiation in order to assess the resulting changes of fundamental material properties and flux pinning. Michael Eisterer received his PhD from TU Wien, Austria in 1999 and has been involved in the European fusion program since then. His work has gained international recognition recently because of the radiation issues arising for coated conductors in compact high-field fusion reactor concepts.

Prof. Shirabe Akita

Senior Advisor Emeritus, Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI)


Plenary Title: Overview of Superconducting Power Applications in Japan

Bath Date: August 20, 1954 in Japan.

March 1979: Graduated Electrical Engineering Master Course of the University of Tokyo

April 1979: Joined Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI) in Japan.

July 1996: Doctor of Engineering for the research on superconducting conductor and coils for power applications

2004: IEEE Fellow for contributions in applied superconductivity in support of electric power applications.

2021: Fellow of the Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan (IEEJ)

April 2004: Deputy Director, Materials Science Research Laboratory of CRIEPI

June 2005: General Manager, R&D Planning Group of CRIEPI

April 2006: General Manager, Planning Group of CRIEPI

July 2012: Director, Materials Science Research Laboratory of CRIEPI

July 2014: General Secretary of CRIEPI

June 2016: Senior Vice President of CRIEPI

June 2017: Executive Vice President of CRIEPI

June 2020: Senior Advisor of CRIEPI

April 2022: Senior Advisor Emeritus of CRIEPI

July 2023: Deputy Director, Field of Energy, Fukushima Institute for Research, Education and Innovation (F-REI)

He has conducted researches on superconducting wires for AC application, cryogenic resistive cable, SMES, superconducting generator, current limiter, and HTS cable as a researcher of CRIEPI for over 40 years.

Prof. Quentin Herr

Imec USA


Plenary Title: Full-Stack Development of Scalable, Manufacturable Superconducting Digital Technology

Quentin Herr has been a Scientific Director at imec in Belgium and imec USA since May 2021, and was previously a Northrop Grumman Fellow. He holds MA Physics and PhD Electrical Engineering degrees from the University of Rochester and graduated from Case Western Reserve University. His 30 years of experience in superconducting integrated circuit design, and test have spanned analog-to-digital converters, high performance digital, large-scale applications, and interconnect. He pioneered scalable superconducting logic and memory with the invention of AC-powered SFQ logic families. He has been Principle Investigator on multiple government, industrial, and internally-funded programs, and has taught seminars on the principles of superconductor digital circuits. He has nearly 100 publications and patents, and multiple Leadership and Innovation awards.

Prof. Atsutaka Maeda

The University of Tokyo

Superconductivity of Fe chalcogenides: valuable platform with full of variety