Juan Miguel Valderrama

Juan is a PhD student in Nuclear Engineering & Engineering Physics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He earned his BS in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Florida, where his undergraduate research focused on physics-informed deep learning methods for plasma physics applications.

At UW–Madison, Juan’s research centers on fusion breeding blankets and the deuterium–tritium fuel cycle, with a focus on tritium breeding, transport, and accountancy. He uses neutronics and nuclear multiphysics modeling to study how blanket design and operating conditions affect tritium behavior in fusion systems. He is also interested in reduced-order and data-driven modeling approaches that make these analyses more efficient and help infer key fuel-cycle quantities from limited information.

In addition to his research, Juan serves as Chair of the Fusion Student Delegation, a national student organization that engages with policymakers to support fusion-enabling research, workforce development, and infrastructure.

Education

PhD Student — Nuclear Engineering & Engineering Physics, University of Wisconsin–Madison (2025–Present)

Bachelor of Science, BS — Nuclear Engineering, University of Florida (2020–2025)

Research Interests

Fusion blankets and fuel cycles

Neutronics and multiphysics modeling

Scientific machine learning