Charlie Sanabria Mechanical Engineer and Material Scientist CV

Last updated March 2nd 2026.

Charlie+Sanabria
Key terms

Magnet engineering ◄
Superconducting cables ◄
Magnets for fusion energy ◄
Research and Development ◄
Science and technology ◄
History of human progress ◄

Name

Charlie Sanabria

Charlie Sanabria's Carrer Mission Statement
My carreer mission statement

I believe science is fundamental to the prosperity of humankind, and I’m passionately driven towards initiatives that expand our scientific capabilities. Throughout my career, I have consciously involved myself in major projects such as ITER, the Large Hadron Collider, and most recently SPARC—acquiring a wide range of skills that include hands on work, experimental design, large system tests, project management, as well as a host of multidisciplinary experimental and analytical tools for superconducting magnet development. My career goal is to keep acquiring whatever skills necessary to render myself useful to large-scale scientific projects aimed at improving our human condition and accelerating the future of fusion energy.

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Charlie Sanabria's Education
Education

    PhD in Material Science and Engineering at The Florida State University (2017).
    Watch PhD thesis presentation here, download thesis document here, or buy book here.
    Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering at The Florida State University (2011).

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Charlie Sanabria's Research experience
Work experience

1 - Institution: Commonwealth Fusion Systems.

    Position: Senior Manager, Cable Magnet R&D.
    Dates of employment: May 2024 – present.
    Description of duties and accomplishments:
    Responsible for the acceptance test of the first pulsed magnet of the SPARC tokamak. This includes setting the objectives and required analyses, as well as establishing the procedures that Test Operations team will use for the remaining magnets.
    Responsible for superconducting cable testing R&D. This includes driving a team of eight engineers to deliver solutions and results for the SPARC Engineering Design team.
    Exploring solutions to superconductor design challenges for the ARC power plant.

2 - Institution: Commonwealth Fusion Systems.

    Position: Magnet Systems Engineer.
    Dates of employment: June 2019 – May 2024.
    Description of duties and accomplishments:
    Testing of the first fusion-relevant, multi-megajoule, superconducting magnet of its kind. The magnet was made with high temperature superconductors and uses a novel fiber optic-based quench detection system.
    Designing and developing the basic concepts for a new generation superconductor magnet for fusion devices. From early concepts, to manufacturing feasibility, to risk-retirement, to testing, I developed the basis of the PIT VIPER cable (link).

3 - Institution: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

    Position: Postdoctoral Researcher.
    Dates of employment: November 2017 – Present.
    Description of duties and accomplishments:
    Cable task deputy leader of the Accelerator Upgrade Program (AUP) aimed to upgrade the LHC magnets.
    Led the development of a cryogenic resistivity measurement system used to monitor cable quality.
    Developed image analysis algorithms for in‑line dimensional measurements of superconducting cables.
    Developed a small‑magnet project aimed to understand the issue of “training” in accelerator magnets.

4 - Institution: The Applied Superconductivity Center at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory.

    Position: PhD candidate Research Assistant (RA).
    Dates of employment: July 2014 – October 2017.
    Description of duties and accomplishments:
    Under a grant provided by the US Department of Energy my team was to improve the wire technology for the future upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).
    My metallographic characterization and microscopy led to an improved heat treatment, and a 28% increase of the critical current density of the wires. (watch presentation here).
    Co-author of a provisional patent application for a new wire design, and first author of a provisional patent application for a heat treatment process.

5 - Institution: Oxford Superconducting Technology (OST), now Bruker.

    Position: Visiting scientist.
    Dates of employment: April 2014 – July 2014.
    Description of duties and accomplishments:
    Performed exploratory metallography and image analysis of OST’s wire production.
    My diagnosis led to a process improvement that increased the magnetic stability of the wires by 30%.
    Supervisor:

    Michael Field


6 - Institution: The Applied Superconductivity Center at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory.

    Position: Graduate Research Assistant (RA).
    Dates of employment: May 2011 – April 2014.
    Description of duties and accomplishments:
    As part of the ITER crash R&D program (aka the ‘dream team’) our responsibility was to understand the mechanical failure of the ITER conductor prototypes.
    My analysis reinforced our understanding of the mechanical integrity of the ‘short twist pitch’ approach taken by ITER on its Cable‑in‑conduit conductors.
    Published seven scientific journals and gave eight talks at international conferences.

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Charlie Sanabria's Publications
Publications
    Peer reviewed journal articles
    C. Sanabria, B. Sorbom, and M. Segal, “Commercial fusion power: a killer app for HTS” an invited section in “A Roadmap for Superconductors for Fusion” Edited by Neil Mitchell, Supercond. Sci. Technol. 34 103001 (2021).
    C. Sanabria, P. J. Lee, W. Starch, A. Devred, and D. C. Larbalestier, “Metallographic autopsies of full-scale ITER prototype cable-in-conduit conductors after full cyclic testing in SULTAN: II. Significant reduction of strand movement and strand damage in short twist pitch CICCs,” Supercond. Sci. Technol., vol. 28, no. 12, p. 125003, 2015.
    C. Sanabria, P. J. Lee, W. Starch, T. Blum, A. Devred, M. C. Jewell, I. Pong, N. Martovetsky, and D. C. Larbalestier, “Metallographic autopsies of full-scale ITER prototype cable-in-conduit conductors after full testing in SULTAN: 1. The mechanical role of copper strands in a CICC,” Supercond. Sci. Technol., vol. 28, no. 8, p. 085005, Aug. 2015.
    A. Nijhuis, R. P. P. van Meerdervoort, H. J. G. Krooshoop, W. a. J. Wessel, C. Zhou, G. Rolando, C. Sanabria, P. J. Lee, D. C. Larbalestier, A. Devred, A. Vostner, N. Mitchell, Y. Takahashi, Y. Nabara, T. Boutboul, V. Tronza, S.-H. Park, and W. Yu, “The effect of axial and transverse loading on the transport properties of ITER Nb3Sn strands,”Supercond. Sci. Technol., vol. 26, no. 8, p. 084004, Aug. 2013.

    Peer reviewed conference papers
    C. Sanabria, P. J. Lee, A. Devred, and D. C. Larbalestier, “Metallographic autopsies of full-scale ITER prototype cable-in-conduit conductors after full cyclic testing in SULTAN: III: The Importance of Strand Surface Roughness in Long Twist Pitch Conductors”, Supercond. Sci. Technol., vol. 29, no. 7, p. 74002, 2016.

    Chapters
    C. Sanabria, P. J. Lee, , “An Introduction to Digital Image Analysis of Superconductors” a chapter in the Handbook of Superconducting Materials, Second Edition (Taylor and Francis, 2016, co-chief-edited by Prof. Cardwell and Prof. Larbalestier). Submitted.

    Books
    C. Sanabria “A new understanding of the heat treatment of Nb3Sn superconducting wires”, Thesis Document published using CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. April 19th, 2017 ISBN: 978-1-5447-7013-0

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Charlie Sanabria's Patents
Patents
    A. Radovinsky, C. Sanabria, C. Craighill, K. K. Uppalapati, A. Creely, D. Brunner. “Partitioned superconducting cable”, WO2021178697A1
    C. Sanabria, M. Field, H. Miao, J. Parrell, “Improving strand critical current density in Nb3Sn superconducting strands via novel heat treatment” US2018212136A1.
    M. Field, H. Miao, C. Sanabria, “A method for producing a multifilament Nb3Sn superconducting wire”, EP3420565

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Charlie Sanabria's Honors and Awards
Honors and awards

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Charlie Sanabria's Scientific Talks
Scientific talks at international conferences
    Click here to watch video recordings of some of these talks.
    C. Sanabria, I. Pong, L. LaLonde, and S. Prestemon, “Further Heat Treatment Optimizations for Nb3Sn Conductors – From wires to cables” presented at the Applied Superconductivity Conference in Seattle WA, October 28th November 2nd 2018.
    C. Sanabria, I. Pong, S. Prestemon, “Understanding the dangers of skipping the 215°C step in RRP wire heat treatment”, Presented at the Low Temperature High Field Superconducting Workshop at the Omni Jacksonville Hotel, Jacksonville FL, February 12th‑February 14th, 2018.
    C. Sanabria, M. Field, P. J. Lee, H. Miao, J. Parrell, and D. C. Larbalestier, “Heat treatment optimization of RRP® wires”, presented at the Low Temperature High Field Superconducting Workshop at La Fonda on the Plaza Hotel in Santa Fe, NM, February 27th‑March 1st, 2017.
    C. Sanabria, M. Field, P. J. Lee, H. Miao, J. Parrell, and D. C. Larbalestier, “Significant improvement of Jc in small Ds RRP® wires through heat treatment changes and phase control”, presented at the Applied Superconductivity Conference in Denver, CO, September 4th‑9th 2016.
    C. Sanabria, M. Field, P. J. Lee, and D. C. Larbalestier, “A self-assembled Sn‑Nb‑Cu membrane regulating high Sn phases in RRP® wires”, presented at the Low Temperature High Field Superconducting Workshop at La Fonda on the Plaza Hotel in Santa Fe, NM, February 8th‑10th, 2016.
    C. Sanabria, M. Field, P. J. Lee, and D. C. Larbalestier, “The Role of a Cu-Sn-Nb Membrane on the Reaction Pathway of Nb3Sn wires”, presented at the Materials Research Society Spring Meeting at the Moscone West, the Marriott Marquis and the Park Central Hotels in San Francisco, CA, April 6th‑10th 2015.
    C. Sanabria, P. J. Lee, W. Starch, T. Blum, A. Devred, D. C. Larbalestier, “To Slip or Not to Slip, The Importance of Strand Surface Roughness in Long Twist Pitch Conductors”, presented at The Applied Superconductivity Conference in Charlotte, NC, August 10th‑15th, 2014.
    C. Sanabria, P. J. Lee, W. Starch, N. Thakker, A. Atchison, A. Devred, M. C. Jewell, I. Pong, N. Martovetsky and D. C. Larbalestier, “Metallographic Autopsies on Central Solenoid SULTAN Samples”, presented at The 23rd Magnet Technology Conference at The Westin Copley Place in Boston, MA, July 14th‑19th, 2013.
    C. Sanabria, A. Nijhuis, R. van Meerdervoort, P. J. Lee, A. Vostner, I. Pong, M. C. Jewell, A. Devred and D. C. Larbalestier, “Filament fracture in ITER Nb3Sn strands after controlled load simulations” presented at The Applied Superconductivity Conference at the Doubletree Hotel Portland in Portland, OR, August 7th‑12th, 2012.
    C. Sanabria, P. J. Lee, and D. C. Larbalestier, “Metallography of post‑TARSIS strand samples and SULTAN tested conductors”, presented at the ITER Conductor Design Reconciliation Workshop of 2012 at the Aquabella hotel in Aix‑en‑Province, France, June 2012.
    C. Sanabria, P. J. Lee, W. Starch, J. Diaz, I. Pong, A. Vostner, M. C. Jewell, A. Devred, and D. C. Larbalestier, “Evidence for Filament Fracture During SULTAN Testing of ITER TFEU5 CICC,” presented at the Low Temperature High Field Superconducting Workshop at the Biltmore Hotel in Providence, RI, November 7th‑9th, 2011.
    C. Sanabria and P. J. Lee, “Metallography on TARSIS tested ITER Strands”, presented at the ITER Conductor Design Reconciliation Workshop of 2011 at the Aquabella hotel in Aix‑en‑Province, France, June 2011.

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Charlie Sanabria's Invited Talks
Invited Talks
    C. Sanabria, “Image Analysis for Large Scale Projects”, an invited talk given at the Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory at the University of Berkeley, CA, February 29th, 2015.
    C. Sanabria, “Hot Fusion, Cold Magnets, and a Plan to Save the World”, an ITER related talk given at the Thomas University in Thomasville, GA, October 29th 2013.
    C. Sanabria, “The Power of the Sun in a Magnetic Bottle”, an ITER related talk given to a group of eight graders from the Charlie A. Gray High School in Moultrie, GA, May 20th, 2013.
    C. Sanabria, “A Star is Born”, an ITER related talk for a series sponsored by the NHMFL called “Science Café”, aimed to familiarize the general population of Tallahassee with current scientific discoveries and projects. May 1st, 2012.

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Charlie Sanabria's Teaching Experience
Teaching
    The Florida State University
      Teaching Assistant for an introductory class to Material Science and Engineering for three semesters.

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Charlie Sanabria's Service
Service
    Peer reviewed dozens of articles submitted to several scientific journals.
    Participated actively in the National Magnet Laboratory's Open House aimed to expose the public to the exciting science happening at the MagLab.
    Volunteer scientist at the Bay Area Scientists in Schools (BASIS) program aimed to inspire schoolchildren to pursue a career in science.

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Charlie Sanabria's Professional Skills
Professional Skills
    Scientific/engineering
    I am a driven, resourceful, and disciplined scientist. Always approaching problems in an objective and skeptic manner.
    My core strength is to capture the essence of a problem or challenge—with back-of-the-envelope analysis and comprehensive sketches—and providing enough clarity to enable large teams of people to push towards a common goal.
    I am proficient in electromagnetic analysis, cryogenic and mechanical design.
    I have a wide range of test experience in superconductor cables and magnets.
    Leadership
    I am a solution-oriented leader who seeks to provide every team member with a clarity of purpose that unlocks their potential and ability.
    I value simplicity and elegance over complexity and rigidity.
    It is important for a leader to recognize opportunities to accelerate progress by taking down barriers. These barriers could be communicative, systematic, analytical, interpersonal, and other challenges of large projects
    Focusing on what matters most is the only way to deliver high-impact projects on time.
    I respect the laws of physics and understand they can’t be broken, not even by human will.

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Charlie Sanabria's Personal Skills
Personal Skills
    Communication
    Good ability to communicate ideas across language and cultural barriers.
    Excellent writing skills.
    Creative, clear, and articulate public speaker.

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Charlie Sanabria's Associations
Professional associations
    IEEE
    IEEE Magnetics Society Membership

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