Florent Heidet, Ph.D.
Chief Technology Officer and Head of Reactor Development
Dr. Heidet is a world-renowned expert on advanced nuclear reactor technologies, leveraging two decades of nuclear engineering and project management expertise. Dr. Heidet was previously the Head of Engineering at Ultra Safe Nuclear Corp. (USNC), where he led a multidisciplinary team of over 100 experts working around the globe to advance the development of the KRONOS MMRTM Energy System and LOKI MMRTM technologies prior to their acquisition by NANO Nuclear earlier this year.
Prior to his leadership role with USNC, Dr. Heidet spent 12 years at Argonne National Laboratory, where he played a central role in most of the laboratory’s reactor design projects. He led the design of the Versatile Test Reactor, a $2 billion program under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy, served as the Argonne manager for the Transformational Challenge Reactor program, coordinated the Nuclear Thermal Propulsion efforts in support of NASA, and provided expertise and leadership to numerous federal, commercial, and international projects.
Dr. Heidet has a proven track-record of assembling highly effective teams and consistently delivering impactful outcomes. His organizational skills are widely acknowledged through several institutional awards. Dr. Heidet holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, a M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the ENSAM (Paris, France), and business program certificates from both Berkeley Haas School of Business and Chicago Booth School of Business. He has published numerous peer-reviewed technical papers and authored several chapters of the Encyclopedia of Nuclear Energy.
Professor Massimiliano Fratoni
Senior Director and Head of Reactor Design
Massimiliano Fratoni is Xenel Distinguished Professor and Chair in the Department of Nuclear Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley (UCB). He received a Laurea in Nuclear Engineering from Università di Roma “La Sapienza” (Italy), and a MSc and a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to joining the Nuclear Engineering Department at UCB, he held a Research Scientist position at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and a faculty position at The Pennsylvania State University.
Prof. Fratoni’s main research interests are in sustainable nuclear energy through advanced reactors and advanced fuel cycles. His research is focused on developing innovative engineering solutions that will facilitate the widespread deployment and adoption of advanced nuclear energy technologies. Prof. Fratoni is author of more than 200 publications in the areas of advanced reactors and advanced fuel cycles. He received the American Nuclear Society Early Career Reactor Physicist Award (2018) and the Untermyer & Cisler Reactor Technology Medal (2024).
Professor Peter Hosemann
Head of Nuclear Reactor Design and Materials
Professor and Former Department Chair of Nuclear Engineering Department in UC Berkeley. Prof. Hosemann’s career started at the Montanuniversitaet Leoben in Austria where he received his Ph.D. and MS degree in Material Science. He joined Los Alamos National Laboratory in 2005 as a graduate research assistant and continued as a Post doc from 2008-2010 before joining UC Berkeley’s nuclear engineering department.
Prof. Hosemann had numerous research stays at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland and Los Alamos National Laboratory. His research features experimental material science for extreme environments, especially nuclear environments. His focus is on structural materials used for nuclear components (fission, fusion, spallation, etc.) while developing a basic understanding of the materials degradation processes and resulting consequences to engineering application.
Leopoldo Garcia
Mechatronics Engineer
Leopoldo Garcia is a Mechatronics Engineer specializing in instrumentation, automation, and robotics, with expertise in electromagnetic systems and nuclear technologies. He is leading the manufacturing and system integration efforts for the next-generation of Annular Linear Induction Pumps (ALIP) developed by Dr. Carlos O. Maidana, supporting its transition from prototyping to commercialization. As part of this effort, he is also responsible for furthering the development of the Magnetic Field Mapping System (MFMS) and plays a key role in the robotics, controls, and instrumentation required for ALIP applications. Additionally, he contributes to research and development on space nuclear systems, including LOKI MMR™, space applications for ALIP, and future space-related projects under Dr. Maidana’s guidance and supervision.
Before joining NANO Nuclear Energy, Leopoldo worked at Amazon Robotics as an R&D Hardware Development Engineer, where he designed and tested safety sensor systems and contributed to the development of the Cardinal Robotic Workcell. His work involved robotic industry safety standards, leading multidisciplinary teams, and managing supplier coordination and stakeholder requirements under strict time constraints.
Leopoldo holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering with Honors from the Georgia Institute of Technology, with a Minor in Robotics and Automation. His expertise in precision automation, embedded systems, and advanced manufacturing makes him a key contributor to the development of next-generation nuclear and space technologies at NANO Nuclear Energy.