Kwanglok Kim is a Superconducting Magnet R&D Staff member in the Fusion Technology Group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He is also a University of Tennessee-Oak Ridge Innovation Institute Fellow, working with the institute’s Fusion Technology and Materials for Extreme Environments Convergent Research Initiative.

Kim’s research focuses on superconducting magnet technologies for fusion applications, with particular interests in high-temperature superconducting magnets, electromagnetic and thermal modeling, quench behavior, and magnet protection. His current work at ORNL includes physics-informed and data-driven approaches for quench prediction and protection in HTS magnets, as well as electromagnetic modeling and analysis for fusion-related magnet systems.

Before joining ORNL, Kim was a Project R&D Engineer in Magnetics at Philips, where he worked on superconducting MRI magnet development, quench-protection systems, electromagnetic analysis, and investigations of magnet quench events. His work included finite-element and circuit-based modeling of superconducting magnets and quench behavior, along with engineering support for magnet development from design through system-level evaluation.

Prior to Philips, Kim conducted research at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory at Florida State University, first as a postdoctoral researcher and later as a visiting scientist. His research focused on high-field REBCO superconducting magnets, including the design and analysis of a 35 T all-REBCO magnet, development of a 40 T superconducting magnet, quench testing and analysis, conductor characterization, and electromagnetic modeling. He also worked on superconducting coil fabrication, cryogenic testing, instrumentation, and high-field magnet experiments.

Education