SPEAKERS & PANELLISTS

Professor Andre Luiten is Director of the Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing and Chair of Experimental Physics at the University of Adelaide, as well as Managing Director of QuantX, a startup company with 20 employees that is growing fast. Andre has published 132 journal papers and raised $40M for research. His work aims at the development and application of state of the-art physics-based instruments. His efforts have been recognised with a 2018 Eureka Prize for Outstanding Science in Safeguarding Australia, the Alan Walsh Medal for services to industry, the Barry Inglis Medal for Measurement Science and he is South Australia’s 2022 Innovator of the Year.

David leads Bluefors’ technical development for the quantum technology industry. He holds a PhD from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, 2005, focusing on his work on Josephson junction quantum bits. He continued his research at the Low Temperature Laboratory, Helsinki University of Technology (2005-2008), and, prior to joining Bluefors, worked as a Senior Scientist at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland (2008-2015). With his background in both microfabrication and cryogenic measurements of quantum circuits, he has a deep understanding of cryogenics in the future of quantum technology. 

Chris Ferrie is an Associate Professor at the UTS Centre for Quantum Software and Information and a co-founder of Eigensystems, an Australian start-up with a mission to democratize access to quantum computing by empowering the next generation of scientists, engineers, and innovators to unlock their full potential and make their ideas a reality in the quantum age.

Prof Halina Rubinsztein-Dunlop is the Director of Translational Research Program at the ARC CoE for Engineered Quantum System, and a Professor of Physics, at University of Queensland. There, she leads groups in experimental quantum atom optics, laser micromanipulation and biophotonics. Halina is the recipient of many national and international awards, including Officer in the General Division of the Order of Australia, OSA 2021 C.E.K. Mees Medal, Beatie Steel Medal 2018, AIP Harrie Massey Medal 2020. In 2023 Halina has been awarded University of Glasgow Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science. She is a Fellow of Australian Academy of Science, Fellow of SPIE, Fellow of Optica and Fellow of Australian Institute of Physics.

Dr Si-Hui Tan heads the research development for Horizon’s software that will compile classical code to be run on a quantum computer. She has been an active researcher in the field of quantum information science for over 18 years, and has published extensively in top journals and conference proceedings. Si-Hui received a BSc in Physics from the California Institute of Technology and a PhD in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she was the recipient of the prestigious MIT Presidential Fellowship. Prior to joining Horizon, Si-Hui was a research scientist at the Singapore University of Technology and Design, the Centre for Quantum Technologies, and the A*STAR Data Storage Institute.

Sir Peter Knight FRS is Emeritus Professor at Imperial, a past President of the Institute of Physics, 2004 President of the Optical Society of America, Chair of the UK National Quantum Technology Programme Strategy Advisory Board and chairs the Quantum Metrology Institute at the National Physical Laboratory. His research centres on quantum technology. He has won the Thomas Young Medal and the Glazebrook Medal of the Institute of Physics, the Ives Medal and the Walther medal of the OSA, the Royal Medal of the Royal Society and the Faraday Medal of the IET.

Amanda Seedhouse is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Diraq, a quantum computing startup. Prior to this, she completed her PhD at UNSW, where her research focused on the theoretical aspects of noise in silicon quantum dots. In addition to my professional role, I volunteer for Quantum Women, an organisation dedicated to supporting women in quantum fields

Andrea Morello is the Scientia Professor of Quantum Engineering at UNSW Sydney, Australia. His group has pioneered the use of donor spins for quantum information processing, demonstrating the first electron and nuclear spin qubits in silicon, and multi-qubit operations with over 99% fidelity. For these contributions he received numerous awards, including the 2017 Landauer and Bennett Award for Quantum Computing. His research interests further extend to quantum chaos, quantum foundations and quantum sensing. He is a passionate science communicator and teacher, and has led the creation of the world’s first bachelor’s degree of Quantum Engineering at UNSW.

Professor Andrew Doherty is a theoretical quantum physicist at the University of Sydney. He is a former Deputy Director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems and CTO at quantum computing company PsiQuantum.

Andrew is currently the Chief of Space, Intelligence, National Security and Cyber (SINC) Division within the Defence Science and technology Group, a Group within the Australian Department of Defence. He started this role in 2023 and is responsible for working with senior users in Defence to formulate the Innovation Science & Technology Programs for the Defence Capability areas of Intelligence and Cyber. He is responsible for the delivery of these programs of work to both the Defence users and the Chief Defence Scientist. Andrew is also responsible for delivering Star Shots in Information Warfare, Agile Command & Control and Resilient Multi-mission Space. Andrew also leads DSTG contributions to AUKUS Pillar II Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Systems themes. The role also includes directing Defence support to the wider cross Government capabilities in National Security through the National Security Science and Technology Centre, which operates from within the CINS Division.

Prior to this role Andrew was the Chief three Divisions, also in DSTG, starting in 2017. In addition, to directing research in Intelligence, Surveillance and Space he was responsible for DSTG capability development in these areas. This included: Over the Horizon Radar, MMW Radar, Electro-optic Surveillance systems, Sensor exploitation, Space systems, intelligence architectures and information analytics.

Prior to 2017 Andrew worked with UK Ministry of Defence in the Defence Science & Technology Laboratory also working in the field of intelligence and surveillance, but also leading research teams delivering countermeasures and protection solutions. Andrew also enjoyed a period of time leading innovation in UK Defence, as the head of the Centre for Defence Enterprise.
Outside of work he enjoys building a home in the SA Barossa living off grid in the country side sharing the land with goats and dogs. He has six adult children split across two countries who he enjoys embarrassing as much as possible. Having arrived in Australia relatively recently he is enjoying exploring the outback with his wife in there FJ Cruiser “Rosie”.

Dr Cathy Foley AO PSM became Australia’s ninth Chief Scientist in January 2021 after an extensive career at Australia’s national science agency, the CSIRO, including as the agency’s Chief Scientist.

Dr Foley is an internationally recognised physicist with major research achievements in superconductors and sensors which lead to the development of the LANDTEM sensor system to locate valuable deposits of minerals deep underground.

Dr Foley’s scientific excellence and influential leadership have been recognised with numerous awards and fellowships, including election to the Australian Academy of Science in 2020, and an Order of Australia for service to research science and to the advancement of women in physics. She received the Australian Institute of Physics Medal for Outstanding Service to Physics in 2016. She is a Fellow of Australian Academy of Technological Science and Engineering (2008) and an honorary Fellow of the Australian Institute of Physics (2019).

Dr Foley is an inspiration to women in STEM across the globe and focused strongly on equality and diversity in the science sector.

Bill is the co-founder and Managing Director of Main Sequence, a deep tech venture firm based in Sydney. He focuses on investing in disruptive companies in the areas of AI/ML, quantum, synthetic biology, and space. Bill has been assisting technology founders in Australia and the US for 25+ years and has led investments in many multi-billion dollar companies including Culture Amp, Altium, Seek, Looksmart, and onebox. Most recently, Bill led investments in Q-CTRL, Quintessence Labs, Pending.AI, Prospection, Trellis Data, Kapiche

Chris is an experienced technical executive with a demonstrated history of success in the LiDAR, defence, space flight, ultrafast laser, and optical fabrication industries. His extensive Atomic/Optical background, multiple award-winning product development efforts, and years of experience with photonic circuits is now being leveraged at Infleqtion to commercialize and monetize Quantum.

Christophe Jurczak, PhD, is managing partner at Quantonation, the leading early stage Venture Capital firm dedicated to quantum technologies (26 investments worldwide as of Nov. 2023,100m AUM), based in Boston, MA and Paris, France. He has held government and executive positions in energy, defence and in the emerging quantum industry. He holds a master's degree in Quantum Physics from Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris and a PhD in Quantum Physics under the supervision of Nobel prize ’22 Prof. Alain Aspect on laser cooling of atoms. He is board member at startups QphoX, Pasqal, Qubit Pharmaceuticals, WeLinQ, Nord Quantique and at not for profits Unitary Fund (USA) and PINQ2, Platform for Digital and Quantum Innovation (Canada).

Dr. Dimitri Kusnezov was confirmed as the Under Secretary for the Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) on September 8, 2022. As the science advisor to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary, Dr. Kusnezov heads the research, development, innovation and testing and evaluation activities that improve the U.S.’s security and resilience. Prior to DHS, Dr. Kusnezov was a theoretical physicist working at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) focusing on emerging technologies, where he served as Deputy Under Secretary for Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Technology, leading efforts to drive AI innovation and bring it into DOE missions, business and operations.

Prior to CSIRO, Elanor was Dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science at the Australian National University (ANU). She also held Board appointments at Innovation Science Australia, Significant Ventures, Questacon and other government scientific advisory roles. Elanor was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Technology and Engineering in 2020 and named an honorary Fellow of Engineers Australia in 2017. She led the extended Group of Eight (Go8+) Engineering Deans as first female Chair from 2017-2019. Elanor holds a PhD in experimental quantum optics and a Masters in information technology. Her current research includes the control of quantum systems, at the interface between theory and applications. She was a Program Manager in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technologies for nearly 2 decades.

Gavin Brennen is a Professor of Physics at Macquarie University and director of the Macquarie Centre for Quantum Engineering as well as Chief Investigator for the ARC Centre for Excellence in Engineered Quantum Systems. His research focus is quantum computing and information, as well as quantum blockchain technology. He is a member of the Standards Australia working group for quantum computing and a Quantum Information Advisor for the quantum security company BTQ Technologies.

Pina obtained her PhD degree in Physics in 1996 from Flinders University. She worked in private industry before joining DSTG in 2000.  As a research scientist and then a senior research scientist, Pina worked on assessing the impact of electromagnetic interference and compatibility of systems in maritime, land, space and air domains.  In 2018, she was promoted to Group Leader and in 2021, took on the role as Research Leader, and currently leads Electromagnetic Warfare, EO sensors, Maritime Optronics and Quantum Technologies Science and Technology areas. Pina is an advocate of STEM outreach and careers.

Dr Jane Fitzpatrick is the CEO of the Australian National Fabrication Facility Ltd (ANFF).

Through ANFF, Jane supports world-class research in Australia and the development of the industries such as Defence, MedTech, Energy and Space. ANFF provides open access to world class tools and expertise for micro and nanofabrication for the research, development and commercialisation of technology. ANFF is made up of 21 institutions organised into eight nodes of expertise, coordinating access to over 500 tools.

Jane holds a PhD in Applied Immunology, and she has added technical expertise in many areas, including micro and nanofabrication, throughout her career.

Prof. Jingbo Wang is Director, QUISA (Quantum Information, Simulation and Algorithms) Research Centre at UWA. Her research team pioneered quantum walk-based algorithms to solve practical problems otherwise intractable. She is also Director, UWA-Pawsey educational quantum computing centre. In this capacity, she oversees a comprehensive suite of quantum computing lecture courses offered at the undergraduate, masters, and PhD levels.  Her leadership contributes significantly to the educational advancement and integration of quantum computing expertise within the academic realm. Professor Wang is also Co-Director of Quantum Girls, a government-funded project aiming to encourage more girls and women throughout Australia to consider careers in quantum science, in particular quantum computing.

Kavan is a Professor of Physics at Monash University and Director of Quantum for New South Wales. At Monash, his research focuses on characterising and controlling complex noise in quantum computers. He also works on foundational topics such as quantum chaos and many-time physics. At QfNSW, he aims to determine the impact quantum computers could have on a variety of use cases. QfNSW also aims to support the vibrant quantum ecosystem and quantum industry in the state of NSW, as well as to train the next generation of quantum workforce.

Following a brief research career as an organic chemist Kerrie has spent the last 10 years working at the intersection of science and business to drive the commercialisation of innovations in physics, chemistry, engineering and ICT. She loves working on deep-tech projects alongside passionate scientific teams to bring transformative products and services to market.

Mark Stickells leads the Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre, critical national research infrastructure located in Perth, WA. Pawsey’ hosts Australia’s leading exascale-class system, Setonix - the Southern Hemisphere’s most powerful, energy efficient supercomputer – and is Australia’s national supercomputing/quantum computing innovation hub.  Mark is a member of Australia’s National Quantum Advisory Committee and a non-executive Director of Science and Technology Australia Ltd, a peak body representing more than 115,000 scientists and technologists, a Fellow of Australian Institute of Company Directors and Australian Institute of Management, and member of CEO’s for Gender Equity.

Jacq is an expert in experimental quantum information. Her research is focused on using higher-dimensional systems for exploring curious quantum physics phenomena and developing future quantum technologies. She is the group leader of the research team Qudits@UQ. She holds BS Applied Physics and MS Physics degrees from the University of the Philippines. She finished her PhD at the University of Glasgow. In 2015, she moved to the University of Queensland. In 2016 she took up an ARC DECRA fellowship and in 2019, a Westpac Research Fellowship. Jacq is recognised for moving the shape of photons to mainstream quantum information. She has received several prestigious national and international awards which include: a L'Oreal-UNESCO For Women In Science award in 2017 (one of four in Australia), the Ruby Payne-Scott Medal of the Australian Institute of Physics for excellence in early-career research in 2018, and a L'Oreal-UNESCO For Women In Science International Rising Talent Award in 2019 (one of fifteen awards globally).

Michelle Simmons is the CEO and founder of Silicon Quantum Computing and longstanding Director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology. As one of the world’s leading experimental physicists, she is at the forefront of developing a silicon-based quantum computer and globally renowned for creating the field of atomic electronics.

Michelle has been awarded many international prizes, including the Royal Society Bakerian Medal from the UK, the US Feynman prize for Nanotechnology and the L’ORÉAL-UNESCO Laureate in the physical sciences. This year she was recognised by the Prime Minister’s Prize for Science in Australia. She is a Fellow of many academies including the Royal Society of London, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, UK Institute of Physics, Australian Academy of Science, and the American Physical Society. In 2018 she was named Australian of the Year.

Dr. Nadia Court is currently serving as the Director of the Semiconductor Sector Service Bureau (S3B) and is dedicated to advancing the Australian semiconductor sector. 
With a strong background as the former Technical Director of the Research and Prototype Foundry (RPF) and ANFF facilities at the University of Sydney, Nadia's expertise in micro- and nano-fabrication is highly regarded. Her extensive experience also includes significant contributions at BAE Systems in the UK, where she conducted research in printed electronics and optical communication technologies. 
Nadia holds a PhD from UNSW. Her leadership, industry collaboration, and dedication to innovation have positioned her as a respected figure in the field.

Peter is the inaugural CEO of Sydney Quantum Academy, and holds an Honorary Professorship in the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at Macquarie University as a member of the Centre for Quantum Engineering. Active in the quantum information field for nearly 20 years, Peter completed his PhD in Physics at the University of Toronto, followed by an Alberta Ingenuity Fellowship at the Institute for Quantum Information Science at the University of Calgary, and then an Assistant Professorship at the University of Tokyo.

As Director of the Quantum Engineering Centre for Doctoral Training at the University of Bristol, in 2014 Peter established one of the world’s first programs aimed specifically at preparing graduates for the nascent quantum technology industry.

Since 2018 Roger McKinlay has been leading the Quantum Technologies Challenge in UK Research and Innovation. The QT Challenge funds collaborative projects and has committed approximately £200m to industry-led projects over the past five years.

Roger is a Chartered Engineer and a past president of the Royal Institute of Navigation. He joined UKRI following a career in defence and aerospace. 

Stephanie Groves is a Strategic Initiatives Manager at Standards Australia where she is responsible for leading the quantum technology work program. From 2021-2023, she was the project manager for Standards Australia’s national Quantum Technology Working Group. Currently, her work is focused on showcasing the role of standards as a tool to scale the use of quantum technology in Australia and abroad.

Sushmita Ruj is Faculty of Engineering Lead of UNSW Institute for Cybersecurity, IFCYBER and Senior Lecturer in the School of Computer Science and Engineering at UNSW, Sydney. Her research interests are in applied cryptography, post quantum cryptography, blockchains and privacy enhancing technologies. She designs practical, efficient, and provably secure protocols that can be deployed in real-world applications.  She has won several competitive grants like Samsung GRO Award, NetApp Faculty Fellowship, Cisco Academic Grant. She is an Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security.  Before joining UNSW, she was a Senior Research Scientist at CSIRO's Data61, an Associate Professor at Indian Statistical Institute and an Assistant Professor at Indian Institute of Technology, IIT, Indore. Sushmita is a senior member of both ACM and IEEE.

Professor Tom Stace completed his PhD at the Cavendish Lab, University of Cambridge UK on quantum computing, followed by postdoctoral research at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, also at Cambridge, and Queens' College, Cambridge. He has held various ARC research fellowships, most recently a Future Fellowship (2015-2019), and was Deputy Director of EQUS from 2018 to 2021. He is the CEO and co-founder of Analog Quantum Circuits, which is Queensland's first quantum startup, and the first superconducting quantum technology startup in Australia.