Sophia Spitzer

Sophia is Chief of Staff at Marvel Fusion. She focuses on strategic partnerships with potential early customers, market development, and fundraising.

Prior to joining Marvel Fusion, Sophia worked at McKinsey & Company, where she specialized in topics such as sustainability transformation and energy transition. Her work spanned corporate strategies in renewable energies, business building in the hydrogen economy, and the future of energy systems supporting a wide range of clients from utilities, oil & gas companies to energy equipment OEMs. Working across the entire energy value chain, she brings the necessary experience to address the complex challenges in her current role. Sophia’s academic background is mechanical engineering, which she studied at FAU Nürnberg and TU Munich with study visits to Vancouver and Singapore. She is currently pursuing her doctorate at the Chair of Management Accounting at TU Munich. Her research focuses on the energy-economic, legal, and technical prerequisites necessary for fusion energy to assume a significant role in future energy systems.

• Tell me about your career in fusion? Why did you choose to work in fusion? How has your career progressed? What are your areas of expertise?
  • ”Early on I committed to help solving the energy transition and tackling climate change. The more I explored the topic of a net-zero economy in sustainability projects during my consulting days, the more I understood that current technologies may offer a technically feasible solution, but it will never be economically desirable. Without a new energy source that maintains economic competitiveness, the impact on social acceptance of climate change mitigation will be drastic. Among all future solutions, fusion energy stands out with the greatest promise and impact. My expertise lies in understanding and shaping this potential from a market perspective including energy market integration, early use cases, and power plant requirements.”
• What advice or recommendations would you give to a person looking to enter into fusion?
  • ”Start now! There’s never been a more exciting time to get into fusion. The industry is still young, giving you lots of creative freedom and the chance to take on responsibilities. At the same time, it’s growing fast, so you can be sure your work will be meaningful, impactful, and resonate with stakeholders from politics, society, and academia.”
• Could you discuss some of the main highlights and challenges of your career?
  • ”To ensure that fusion power plants are available soon with the right characteristics, it‘s necessary to investigate integration into the energy market and with the first customers in parallel to technology development. This allows me to model commercialization and roll-out strategies and thereby inform politics and industry today. However, the high degree of freedom in terms of technology, power plant design and system integration is also a challenge because uncertainty has to be managed simultaneously on all fronts.”