The digiLab Team
4 Feb 2025
Experts in AI and experts in Fusion strengthen their partnership, driving developments in Fusion energy innovation.
digiLab and the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) continue to strengthen their partnership, applying advanced AI to complex data and engineering challenges on the pathway to fusion energy.
At the forefront of fusion energy and its related technologies, UKAEA is the government organisation responsible for the research and delivery of sustainable fusion energy. UKAEA spearheads the UK’s national fusion energy research programme, sponsored by the UK Government’s Department for Energy Security & Net Zero.
How is digiLab helping to solve challenges at UKAEA?
digiLab are world leaders in uncertainty quantification (UQ), developing trustworthy and explainable AI that enables data-driven decision-making. digiLab specialises in areas with uncertain or sparse data, resulting in more robust predictions, which is what makes digiLab’s technology so useful in the fusion industry. This utilisation of probabilistic AI has helped UKAEA solve a variety of complex challenges relating to reactor design, digital twinning, real-time fusion machine and plasma control, and much more.
Rob Akers, Director of Computing Programmes at UKAEA says: “Many SMEs focus on AI and data science, but digiLab’s state-of-the-art methods for uncertainty quantification certainly stand out, offering a unique contribution to the world of fusion energy.”
Since the start of this partnership, digiLab has helped the UKAEA to achieve groundbreaking results, revolutionising how simulations are conducted. With digiLab’s product, simulation speeds can be accelerated exponentially, enabling scientists and engineers to work at an unprecedented rate with increased efficiency. digiLab’s product not only empowers experts to make faster decisions, but also enables smarter decisions by extracting more information.
Why is AI so important in a field like fusion and how is digiLab utilising it to accelerate the path to Fusion?
AI plays a pivotal role in accelerating the development of fusion energy because it’s a field that is highly uncertain and complex. With digiLab’s AI-driven solutions, simulations are made more actionable and predictive, R&D is fast-tracked, and risks can be managed more effectively. digiLab’s collaboration with the UKAEA enables problems to be solved faster and with more confidence.
Tim Dodwell, Co-founder & CEO at digiLab says: “Digital technologies like ours are going to be essential for the future of fusion technology. Currently, many of the experiments that engineers are running are built on hugely complicated systems that take weeks of simulation time to run on supercomputers. Our AI can fast track this process by up to 10 million times - it’s difficult to imagine the magnitude of time and cost savings when you quantify the impact of this.”
The partnership between digiLab and UKAEA represents a significant leap forward in fusion energy research and development. By combining digiLab's expertise in probabilistic AI and uncertainty quantification with UKAEA's world-leading fusion knowledge, this collaboration is accelerating the path to viable fusion energy. Utilising advanced AI that is trustworthy and explainable not only saves time and resources but also enables more informed decision-making in this complex field.
As the fusion industry continues to grow, partnerships like this one between digiLab and UKAEA will be crucial in overcoming the challenges that lie ahead. By leveraging advanced AI technologies, the dream of clean, limitless fusion energy is becoming increasingly tangible.
To learn more about the partnership: digiLab & UKAEA: Using AI to Accelerate the Realisation of Fusion Energy Together