Tiago Hekkert

Tiago Hekkert is a Researcher at INESC TEC's Centre for Power and Energy Systems since October 21, 2022, specializing in control systems and automation for energy applications. His work bridges theoretical physics and industrial implementation in nuclear fusion research.

His educational foundation includes Engineering Physics training at Instituto Superior Técnico and professional development at the European Space Agency (ESA) in Noordwijk, where he gained hands-on expertise in software development, firmware engineering, and electrotechnics through practical space technology projects.

Research focuses on real-time control architectures for plasma systems, with core competencies in ATCA standards, MARTe framework programming, and FPGA-based data acquisition. His technical approach integrates C++ development with hardware-level solutions for tokamak operations, emphasizing stability in alternating current discharges and diagnostic integration.

Analysis of his 2014 publications reveals consistent specialization in extending tokamak operational capabilities through synchronized control systems. The research demonstrates cross-disciplinary methodology combining nuclear engineering constraints with real-time computing solutions, particularly advancing long-duration plasma exposure techniques relevant to fusion material testing.

As part of INESC TEC's Power and Energy Systems Centre, he contributes to Portugal's energy research ecosystem through collaborations on fusion-relevant technologies, maintaining active development in control system architectures for next-generation plasma devices.