Dr Michael Walsh was born in Ireland. He took a degree in Electrical Engineering and Microelectronics from 1982 to 1986 at University College Cork, in Ireland. During this time, as well as the usual engineering topics, he developed an interest in optics and lasers, working initially on Far-Infrared Laser systems. After his degree, he followed his interests in lasers and optics to develop a compact high-power tunable CO2 waveguide laser. His subsequent PhD work mainly took place at the Culham Science Centre Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in the UK. This work was on the study of Ion-Transport in the Magnetic Fusion Device, HBTX-1D, and this involved the development of various diagnostic systems. After completing the PhD, he continued to work in the Fusion field and especially in the area of diagnostic development. Before his current position, he worked on START, MAST and JET (Joint European Torus) in the UK. From 2009-2024, he led the ITER Diagnostics Team whose objective was to create and implement all the diagnostics needed for the ITER Research plan according to the schedule. Since 2024, he has led the Fusion Technology and I&C Division and been part of the ITER Matrix Transformation. ITER is based at St. Paul Lez Durance in southern France.