Experimental Plasma Physicist with over a decade of expertise in advanced diagnostic development and complex plasma modeling. Proven ability to lead and contribute to cutting-edge research in tokamak physics, specializing in tokamak startup simulations, and the design, commissioning, and exploitation of state-of-the-art microwave diagnostics. Adept at leveraging deep knowledge of plasma core turbulent transport and synthetic diagnostics to drive quantitative experimental comparisons and achieve solid rigurous advancements in fusion energy research.
Postdoctoral research associate
Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland
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Summary
Led the development and experimental validation of electromagnetic reconstruction codes and burn-through simulation tools for TCV tokamak plasmas, actively contributing to doublet plasma advancements.
Highlights
Developed and experimentally validated electromagnetic reconstruction codes, enhancing the analysis of the breakdown phase in TCV tokamak plasmas.
Commissioned and experimentally validated the STREAM burn-through simulation code, accurately modeling TCV startup scenarios with significant fast electron ramp-up.
Actively participated in the development and exploitation of doublet plasmas, contributing to advanced plasma configuration research.
Postdoctoral research associate
Garching, Bavaria, Germany
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Summary
Integrated, tested, and installed a multi-frequency Doppler backscattering diagnostic and developed analysis routines for plasma rotation and density fluctuation properties.
Highlights
Integrated, tested, and installed a state-of-the-art multi-frequency Doppler backscattering diagnostic in the ASDEX-Upgrade tokamak.
Developed advanced analysis routines to extract critical plasma rotation, radial correlation lengths, eddy tilt-angles, and density fluctuation levels.
Postdoctoral research associate
Garching, Bavaria, Germany
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Summary
Conducted rigorous comparisons between experimental turbulence measurements and gyrokinetic simulations, while calibrating and operating a correlation ECE radiometer diagnostic.
Highlights
Explored rigorous comparisons between experimental measurements of turbulence quantities and gyrokinetic (GENE) as well as gyrofluid (TGLF) simulations.
Calibrated, installed, and operated a correlation ECE radiometer diagnostic in the ASDEX-Upgrade tokamak to measure temperature fluctuation properties.
Doctoral assistant
Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland
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Summary
Designed, developed, tested, and exploited advanced V-band Doppler backscattering and short pulse reflectometer diagnostics for measuring density fluctuations and equilibrium profiles in tokamak experiments.
Highlights
Designed, developed, tested, and initially exploited a sweepable V-band Doppler backscattering (DBS) diagnostic, measuring density fluctuations' rotation velocities and energy spectra.
Achieved the first demonstration of multi-frequency and polarization rotation with DBS in a tokamak experiment.
Designed, developed, tested, and initially exploited an innovative V-band fast AWG-driven short pulse reflectometer to access equilibrium density profiles and fluctuations.
Junior Software and Controls Engineer
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Summary
Developed and implemented control algorithms to mimic human walking patterns and designed GUI control panels for exoskeleton legs.
Highlights
Designed and implemented control algorithms to mimic human walking patterns using 4-BLDC motors, Atmega-2560 MCU, and external motor-driver chips.
Developed and implemented a GUI control panel for exoskeleton legs utilizing C# and OpenGL.
Graduate Research Assistant
Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
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Summary
Assimilated hundreds of PPT publications to uncover performance characteristics and gained familiarity with high-voltage circuits for Pulsed Plasma Thrusters (PPT).
Highlights
Assimilated hundreds of PPT publications, unveiling important performance characteristics published in international conferences.
Gained familiarity with the characterization and utilization of high-voltage circuits for ceramic spark-plug ignition of Pulsed Plasma Thrusters (PPT).
Undergraduate Summer Research Assistant
Kingston, Ontario, Canada
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Summary
Designed and constructed a highly-sensitive 3-axial search-coil spacemagnetometer prototype and configured its pre-amp and flight-processor.
Highlights
Designed and constructed a prototype of a highly-sensitive 3-axial search-coil spacemagnetometer for CIMON Cubesat mission within a 4-month internship.
Configured pre-amp stage and flight-processor (in C and Assembly language) to measure magnetic field values from the prototype magnetometer for calibration.
Undergraduate Summer Research Assistant
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Summary
Developed software routines in C for azimuth tracking and manufactured electrical connectors for attitude-control systems of a stratospheric balloon-borne IR telescope.
Highlights
Wrote software routines in C within a Linux environment to track azimuth with on-board magnetometers.
Manufactured electrical connectors and mechanical mounts for the attitude-control system of a stratospheric balloon-borne IR telescope.
Research Assistant
Kingston, Ontario, Canada
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Summary
Programmed LabView VIs for data acquisition and motion control of nuclear materials experiments and translated experiment code from Visual Basic to LabView.
Highlights
Programmed LabView VIs for data-acquisition and motion-control of four nuclear-materials experiments involving laser dilatometer, servo and steppermotors, and large hydraulic rigs.
Translated a large experiment code from object-oriented Visual Basic to LabView, significantly improving controllability and performance.
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PhD
Tokamak Physics
Courses
Thesis: Tokamak plasma edge studies by microwave short-pulse reflectometry and backscattering
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MSc (Cum Laude)
Nuclear Fusion Science and Engineering Physics
Courses
Thesis: Modeling capacitively coupled plasmas for impedance matching studies in the ALINE device.
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MSc (Cum Laude)
Space Studies
Courses
Thesis: Pulsed Plasma Thrusters, a global review and experiments.
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BSc. Eng. (First Class Honours)
Engineering Physics
Courses
Final year project: Design of a constellation of nanosatellites to monitor magnetic environment at the second Lagrangian point.
Awarded By
Physics of Plasmas Journal Editorial Board
Awarded to 30 authors out of 146 with first author papers published within 5 years of receiving their Ph.D.
Awarded By
Physics of Plasmas Journal Editorial Board
Awarded to one of the top ten papers published in August 2023 in the Physics of Plasma Journal.
Awarded By
Jury of Exposure Science Film Hackaton (UNIL/EPFL)
Awarded for 'Sun in a Box' film, created by a team of four, winning best film by jury and second best film by audience vote.
Awarded By
Dean of the Faculty of Physics, EPFL
Awarded for exceptional service as a teacher assistant for the 3rd year bachelors laboratory course.
Awarded By
European Commission EACEA
Awarded based on academic performance and potential to succeed in the EM Fusion master program.
Awarded By
Engineering Society, Queen's University (AAS/AIAA 6th CanSat Competition)
Awarded to Queen's Space Engineering Team for performance at the AAS/AIAA 6th CanSat Competition in Amarillo, Texas.
Awarded By
Canadian Foundation for the International Space University
Awarded based on academic performance and potential to succeed in the master program.
Awarded By
Canada Millenium Scholarship Foundation
Awarded based on academic performance, service to the community, leadership, and interest in innovation.
Awarded By
Applied Science, Queen's University
Awarded to engineering students involved in non-traditional fields such as Engineering-Art through the Robiotics project.
Awarded By
Applied Science, Queen's University
Awarded based on academic performance.
Published by
Fusion Engineering and Design
Summary
Molina Cabrera P. A., Pastore, F., Frank, A., Simons, L., Ambroise, T., Yildiz, C., Vincent, B., Verhaegh, K., Marini, C., Wensing, M., Ianchenko, A., Balestri, A., Ernst, S., Coda, S., Sheikh, U., and the TCV team., Fusion Engineering and Design. 223, 115578, February 2026. Available online.
Published by
Nuclear Fusion (planned submission)
Summary
Molina Cabrera P. A., Gache F., Hoppe, M., Decker J., Coda S., Ekmark, I., L. Simons, Choukroun M., Y. Andrebe, E. Devlaminck, F. Felici, A. Merle, L. Porte, U. Sheikh, B. Vincent, and the TCV team., In preparation; to be submitted to Nuclear Fusion in early 2026.
Published by
9th Asia-Pacific conference on Plasma Physics (AAPPS)
Summary
Invited oral presentation on fast electron generation during tokamak startup, including experiments and simulations in TCV, presented in Fukuoka, Japan.
Published by
Nuclear Fusion
Summary
Molina Cabrera P. A., Felici F., Coda S., Merle A., Simons L., Heiss C., Galperti C., Perek A., Wüthirich, and the TCV team., Nuclear Fusion. 65, 106005, September 2025 Available online.
Published by
Joint Runaway Electron Modelling (REM) and JET SPI analysis meeting
Summary
Oral presentation on startup fast electrons, experiments, and simulations in TCV, presented in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Published by
Review of Scientific Instruments
Summary
Yoo C., Conway G. D., Burke W., Molina-Cabrera P., Vanovac B., Cruz-Zabala D. J., Silva A., White A. E., Review of Scientific Instruments. vol 96, 033504, 2025 Available online.
Published by
Nature Communications
Summary
Höfler K., Görler T., Happel T., Carsten L., Molina Cabrera P., et al., Nature Communications. vol. 161, 2558, 2025 Available online.
Published by
33rd Symposium of Fusions Technologies (SOFT 2024)
Summary
Poster presentation on improvements to standard diagnostic preparation and data-quality monitoring in the TCV tokamak, presented in Dublin, Ireland.
Published by
50th European Physical Society (EPS) meeting
Summary
Oral presentation on experimental validation of OD Townsend breakdown theory in the TCV tokamak, presented in Salamanca, Spain.
Published by
Physics of Plasmas
Summary
Molina Cabrera P. A., Rodriguez-Fernandez P., Görler, Bergmann M., Höfler K., Denk S. S., Bielajew R., Conway G. D., Yoo C., White A. E., and the ASDEX Upgrade Team., Physics of Plasmas. 30, 082304, August 2023. Awarded Editor's Pick and included in Early Career Collection.
Published by
Review of Scientific Instruments
Summary
Molina Cabrera P. A., Kasparek W., Happel T., Kammerloher L., Hoefler K., Hennequin P., Honoré C., and the ASDEX Upgrade team., Review of Scientific Instruments. 94, 083504, August 2023. Available online.
Published by
Joint EU-US Transport Task Force (TTF) meeting
Summary
Oral presentation on changes in electron temperature fluctuations and transport with isotopic mass in L-mode plasmas at ASDEX-Upgrade, presented virtually from York University, UK.
Published by
Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion journal
Summary
Molina Cabrera P. A., Labit B., Coda S., Porte L., and the TCV team., Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion journal. 63, 085019, July 2021. Available online.
Published by
62nd Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics
Summary
Poster presentation on changes in electron temperature fluctuations and transport with isotopic mass in L-mode plasmas at ASDEX-Upgrade, presented virtually.
Published by
47th European Physical Society conference on plasma physics
Summary
Poster presentation on changes in electron temperature fluctuations and transport with isotopic mass in L-mode plasmas at ASDEX-Upgrade, presented virtually.
Published by
47th EPS conference on Plasma Physics
Summary
Molina Cabrera P., P. Rodriguez-Fernandez, T. Goerler, M. Bergmann, R. Bielajew, G. D. Conway, K. Hoefler, C. Yoo, A. E. White, 47th EPS conference on Plasma Physics. P5.1075. Available online.
Published by
Review of Scientific Instruments
Summary
Molina Cabrera P. A., Coda S., Porte L., Offedu N., Lavanchy P., Silva M., Toussaint M., and the TCV team., Review of Scientific Instruments, 90(12), 123501, 2019. Available online.
Published by
14th International Reflectometry Workshop
Summary
Oral presentation on Doppler Backscattering diagnostic in the TCV tokamak, presented at Swiss Plasma Center, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Published by
14th International Reflectometry Workshop
Summary
Molina Cabrera P., Coda S., Porte L., N. Offeddu, Swiss Plasma Centre. EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland. 22-24 May 2019. Available online.
Published by
14th International Reflectometry Workshop
Summary
Molina Cabrera P., Coda S., Porte L., Smolders A., Swiss Plasma Centre. EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland. 22-24 May 2019. O.101. Available online.
Published by
14th International Reflectometry Workshop
Summary
Oral presentation on AWG-driven Short Pulse Reflectometer diagnostic in the TCV tokamak, presented at Swiss Plasma Center, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Published by
Review of Scientific Instruments
Summary
Molina Cabrera P. A., Coda S., Porte L., Offedu N., Lavanchy P., Silva M., Toussaint M., and the TCV team., Review of Scientific Instruments, 89(8), 2018 Available online.
Published by
45th Conference on Plasma Physics, European Physical Society
Summary
Poster presentation on reflectometry diagnostics in TCV, presented in Prague, Czech Republic.
Published by
45th Conference on Plasma Physics, European Physical Society
Summary
Molina Cabrera P., Coda S., Porte L., Smolders A., et al., Prague, Czech Republic, July 2-6, 2018. P1.1015. Available online.
Published by
59th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics
Summary
Poster presentation on reflectometry diagnostics in TCV, presented in Milwaukee, WI, US.
Published by
21st Topical Conference on High-temperature Plasma Diagnostics
Summary
Poster presentation on measuring electron density profiles and fluctuations in the TCV tokamak pedestal using a U-band arbitrary short pulse reflectometer, presented in Madison, WI, US.
Published by
Joint Annual Meeting of the Swiss and Austrian societies
Summary
Oral presentation on microwave reflectometry in TCV, presented in Vienna, Austria.
Published by
32nd International Electric Propulsion Conference
Summary
Molina Cabrera P., Tolyarenko N., Wiesbaden, Germany, 11-15 September 2011. Available online.
Published by
32nd International Electric Propulsion Conference
Summary
Molina Cabrera P., Herdrich G., Lau M., Schoenher T., Wiesbaden, Germany, 11-15 September 2011. Available online.
MATLAB, Python, C, Fortran, C++, Java.
meq package (LIUQE, LIH, FBT), STREAM, TGLF, TRANSP.
Reflectometry, CECE, Doppler Backscattering, Line-radiation diodes, Langmuir probes.
Plasma turbulence and transport, Advanced diagnostic interpretation.
Piano, Guitar, Singing, Progressive Rock (Vibrations), Folkloric (Causanacunchi) bands, Community Choirs (Lep's Go, Goudimel).
Kung-Fu (2yrs), Capoeira (1yr), Vo Vietnam (2yrs), Choy Lee Fut (1yr), Haidong Gumdo (Black Belt - 4yrs), Aikido (2 yrs), Tai-Chi (1yr).
Royal Astronomical Society Member, 'Explore the Universe' certificate.
Electric powered RC aircraft, Gas powered RC aircraft.