Physics Wunderkind Taylor Wilson to Speak at CNA2014

By Romeo St-Martin
Digital Media Officer
Canadian Nuclear Association

Time Magazine calls him “The Next Einstein.”

Taylor Wilson is a 19-year-old nuclear physicist who was born in Texarkana, Arkansas and raised in Nevada.

As a child, Wilson was initially interested in rocketry and space science, before entering the field of nuclear science at age 10.

Interest in space led to an interest in nuclear propulsion and then nuclear science and fusion.

“I was obsessed with space and I was really excited about being an astronaut and designing a rocket,” he said. “I think there is something really poetic about using nuclear power to propel us to the stars because the stars are giant fusion reactors. They are giant nuclear cauldrons in the sky.”

During high school, Wilson attended both the Davidson Academy of Nevada and the University of Nevada, Reno where he was given a laboratory to conduct his fusion research.

He astounded the science world and gained notoriety when, at age 14, he became the youngest person in history to produce fusion.

A lot of his work was done on a small budget in his garage.

“I make yellowcake in my garage, so my nuclear program is as advanced as the Iranians,” he quipped.

In 2012, Wilson’s dreams received a boost when he became a recipient of the $100,000 Thiel Prize.

Wilson now intends revolutionize the way we produce energy, fight cancer, and combat terrorism using nuclear technology.

His homeland-security research earned him the opportunity to meet with U.S. President Barak Obama.

“In about seven years of doing nuclear research, I started out with a dream to make a star in a jar, a star in my garage and I ended up meeting the president and developing things I think can change the world,” he said in 2012.

And 2013 was a big year for him as well. In May, he graduated high school and in December he was named one of Time Magazine’s 30 Under 30 World Changers.

Taylor Wilson will be speaking at CNA2014 this month.