Martin van Staden, PhD, is X-energy’s Vice President, Reactor Development, responsible for the technical design of the Xe-100 power plant. With more than 30 years’ experience in modeling, design, and simulation in power generation for nuclear and related industries, his specialties include computational fluid dynamics (CFD), finite element analysis (FEA), and gas-cooled, pebble-bed reactor design. 

Prior to joining X-energy, Martin founded and led Aerotherm Computational Dynamics for more than 17 years, where he led engineering teams, design processes, quality assurance, and configuration control systems. Martin previously held roles as Chief Technical Officer and Director at STL (Steenkampskraal Thorium Limited, South Africa), PBMR, and Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., where he was a specialist consultant in thermal-hydraulics, gas dynamics, and CFD simulation work. 

The author of more than 27 articles and publications, Martin holds a bachelor’s degree in Engineering and masters’ degrees in Mechanical Engineering from North-West University/Noordwes-Universiteit (South Africa), and a Doctor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Johannesburg (South Africa).