People
Scott Weidner, the first Princeton University assistant vice president for engineering at PPPL, brings skills developed over 25 years on multiple NASA projects at the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in San Antonio, Texas. “This is definitely going to be a new chapter in my career and it’s very exciting to me because I’ll be doing things that I have not done before,” Weidner said of his new role.
Valeria Riccardo, PPPL’s new Head of Engineering, is a transplant from the United Kingdom. She comes to the position with more than 20 years of experience in technical management, design, and analysis on two fusion devices in the United Kingdom, together with an educational background in engineering. She holds a master’s degree in nuclear engineering and a doctorate in energetics from Politecnico di Torino in her native Italy, and a doctorate in mechanical engineering from the Imperial College in London.
Les Hill arrived at PPPL just as a $26 million, 10-to-15 year project to overhaul the Laboratory’s infrastructure was speeding into its second phase, and he jumped right in. He has quickly taken charge of the requirements, deadlines, decisions, and reviews that are all part of the work, technically known as the Infrastructure Operations Improvement Project.
