Exec shakeup at First Light Fusion as founder moves to science-focused role

First Light Fusion has announced that its co-founder, Dr Nick Hawker, will step into a new role as chief scientific officer (CSO).

In his place, Graham O’Keeffe, an experienced technology business leader, has joined the business as acting CEO.

Nick will now be responsible for the firm’s scientific mission and technology strategy, while continuing as a board member.

Working with its 56 science and engineering teams, he plans to focus on how First Light transforms its proven technology into a commercially viable, scalable proposition for fusion energy production.

Nick co-founded First Light Fusion in 2011 alongside Professor Yiannis Ventikos, leading the company from a small spinout from the University of Oxford into a world leader in inertial fusion technology.

“I’m excited to be taking up this new position”, he said.

“With recent advancements in inertial fusion, our unique technology remains as important as ever to solving fusion power.

“By expanding our leadership team, I can now focus my time on what I started doing back in 2011, leading and overseeing the technical and scientific strategy as we enter this new era of commercialisation of inertial fusion energy.

“The only difference now to then is I’ll be doing so with the incredible team of physicists and engineers I’m lucky to work with.”

A fresh face at the company, Graham brings expertise in fast-growing deep technology companies.

He recently led a turnaround as chairman and CEO of DisplayLink, a developer of high-performance graphics processing semiconductor chips, with the company being acquired by Synaptics Inc.

Inertial fusion is now poised to enter the phase of commercialisation and energy production with the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in the US having successfully demonstrated ‘ignition’ in December 2022.

As an inertial fusion company, First Light leverages the exact same physics as NIF, albeit using a different driver technology.

The company recently recorded two significant technical achievements, including earlier this month a major breakthrough towards solving the ‘standoff’ challenge – a fundamental requirement for the design of its concept fusion power plant.

Read more - First Light Fusion takes major step towards pilot plant

In February, First Light also announced it had become the first fusion company to successfully fire a shot on Sandia National Laboratories’ Z Machine, breaking the attained pressure record – a major de-risking event for its amplifier technology.

First Light’s executive leadership team is now – Graham O’Keeffe (acting CEO); Dr Nick Hawker (CSO); David Bryon (CFO); Ryan Ramsey (COO); and Laura Hillier (general counsel).

Bart Markus, chair of First Light’s board, added: “With recent scientific progress internally and the significant ‘ignition’ milestone at the NIF, First Light is entering its most exciting chapter yet.

“Evolving and expanding our executive leadership team is a strategic decision to position First Light Fusion for future growth by leveraging a deeper well of expertise to drive the business forward.”