Helion Awards Funding to 20 Research Institutions to Accelerate Scaled Fusion Deployment

EVERETT, Wash. – April 7, 2026 – Helion, a Washington-based fusion energy company, announced today the first-round of 2026 awards under its Helion External Research Collaboration for Universities, Labs, and Enterprise Scientists (HERCULES) program, granting funding to 25 proposals across 20 institutions in the United States and United Kingdom. Awardees include leading universities, national laboratories, and private companies advancing breakthrough materials, magnet systems, diagnostics, and enabling technologies integral to scaling commercial fusion energy. 

 

“The deployment of fusion electricity at scale requires innovation across many domains,” said Michael Hua, Senior Director of Nuclear Science at Helion. “Through HERCULES, we’re partnering with world-class researchers to solve some of the most demanding engineering challenges in energy. The more people and programs we have working on these problems, the faster we get to globally deployed fusion energy.” 

 

With more than $17 million committed through 2028, HERCULES-funded projects directly address unique materials and systems challenges, enabling critical innovations in durability, efficiency, manufacturability, and cost reduction for Helion’s long-term commercial fusion operations.  

 

The HERCULES program was designed to strengthen both the technical foundation and industry partnerships required to move from first-of-a-kind plants to scalable, repeatable global deployment while creating opportunities for students and researchers to engage directly with real-world commercialization challenges. 

 

The next phase of applications will open in mid-2026, for funding up to $500,000. Updates and timelines will be published to: www.helionenergy.com/HERCULES 

 

The full list of awardees: 

 

AwareAbility Technologies 

Modular SiC Neutron Flux Monitor for Use with Helion G7 Fusion Accelerator 

 

Florida State University  

Copper- silver Alloys for Resistive MAgnets- CARMA 

 

Idaho National Laboratory 

Accelerating Helion’s Fusion Innovation: A Rapid Evaluation Framework for Plasma-Facing Components 

 

Massachusetts Institute of Technology 

1) Fusion Flight Simulator: An open-source operator-training platform for fusion systems 

2) Modelling neutron damage effects on hydrogen retention in materials 

 

Michigan State University 

Development of Ultra-Fast Fiber-Optic Neutron Detectors 

 

Nalu Scientific 

RF-SoC Architecture for Pulse Identification and Detection Using DIAMOND Detectors 

 

North Carolina State University 

Establishing Thermal Desorption Capabilities for Hydrogen Retention Studies in Dielectric Materials 

 

The Ohio State University 

Diamond Quantum Sensors for Radiation-Hardened Miniature Neutron Dosimetry 

 

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory 

1) Fabrication and testing of MegaMag plates via Solid Phase Processing  

2) High Temperature Corrosion/Erosion Msemat Monitoring For Fusion Reactor Plasma-Facing Components 

 

Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory 

High-Fidelity Numerical Characterizations of Anomalous Transport in high-B FRC Plasmas via Full-orbit delta-f Particle-In-Cell Simulations 

 

Radiation Monitoring Devices, Inc. 

HEO for Radiation-hard, structural insulators 

 

Texas A&M University 

CLEOPATRA: Cooling puLsEd cOpPer mAgnets wiTh supeRcritical gAseous Fluids – Phase 1 – Exploratory Study 

 

United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority 

High dpa irradiation and characterisation of SiC and SiC/SiC composites 

 

University of California, Berkeley 

1) Radiation Damage Studies for Scintillator-Based Diagnostics in High Flux Environments 

2) Understanding fusion-like neutron damage in SiC 

3) Understanding plasma interaction on SiC 

 

University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign 

Ceramic First-wall Materials and Tunable Composite Shielding 

 

University of Maine 

Investigation of Acoustic Wave Sensors for Fusion Applications 

 

University of Michigan 

1) Enabling SiC and SiC/SiC Components for Helion Fusion Devices: High-Dose Radiation Effects and Predictive Modeling 

2) Plasma-Surface Interaction Modeling and Validation for Edge Biasing and Pre-Ionization 

 

University of New Mexico 

Ion irradiation and mechanical testing of ARB processed Cu/X (X=Fe, Nb) composites 

 

University of Washington 

Characterizing plasma-wall interactions using hydrogen and helium in the 10-60 keV range 

 

Washington State University 

Engineered Grain Boundaries and Microstructures for SiC Plasma Facing Components 

 

 

About Helion 

Helion is a fusion energy company focused on generating zero-carbon electricity from fusion. Its mission is to build the world’s first fusion power plant, enabling a future with unlimited clean electricity. To keep up with the latest progress, follow Helion on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and X.