Quantum Advisory Council

Raymond Laflamme is a Canadian physicist and Founding Director of the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) at the University of Waterloo that he led until 2017. He is currently the Mike and Ophelia Lazaridis "John von Neumann" Chair in Quantum Information; Professor at the IQC and the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Waterloo; and Associate Faculty at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. He is also the president of QuantumLaf Inc.

Dr. Laflamme completed his PhD on aspects of general relativity and quantum cosmology in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at the University of Cambridge under the direction of Stephen Hawking. Since then, his research interests have focused on quantum information, robust quantum control, experimental quantum information processing, physical systems for quantum information processing, and simulation of quantum systems. He was the Scientific Director of QuantumWorks, an NSERC Innovation platform from 2006 to 2012. He was also Director of the Quantum Information program at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research from 2002 to 2016, and a Canada Research Chair from 2002-2023. He received an Honorary Degree from the Université de Sherbrooke in 2012. In 2017 he received the Canadian Association of Physicist CAP-CRM prize in Theoretical and Mathematical Physics. Dr. Laflamme is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Physical Society. In December 2017, he became an Officer of the Order of Canada for his exemplary leadership, theoretical and experimental approaches to quantum information processing and quantum error correction, and, ultimately, for helping to position Canada at the forefront of the next revolution in this field.

Stephanie Simmons is the founder and Chief Quantum Officer at Photonic Inc., driving the technical vision for next-generation quantum technologies based on photonically-linked silicon spin qubits. Dr. Simmons is a world-leading expert in quantum technologies, silicon spin-photon interfaces, condensed matter spin dynamics and control, silicon-integrated photonics, and quantum optics.

She is a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Silicon Quantum Technologies, and a Canadian Institute for Advanced Research Fellow in Quantum Information Science. She is also an Associate Professor at the Department of Physics at Simon Fraser University where she leads the Silicon Quantum Technology research group. Dr. Simmons is an international speaker with over 30 publications, 60 keynote and panel talks, and numerous patents. Her work on developing CMOS-compatible, scalable quantum technologies was awarded a Physics World Top Ten Breakthrough of the Year in 2013, and again in 2015. She has been recognized with an Arthur B. McDonald Fellowship and as a Top 40 Under 40 in Canada. Stephanie has been a reviewer for Nature, Science, Physical Review, NSERC, the Canada Research Chairs program, and more, and her work has been covered by the CBC, BBC, Wired Magazine, Scientific American, the New Scientist, and the New York Times.

Alexandre Blais is a professor of physics at the Université de Sherbrooke where he is the scientific director of the Institut quantique and holds a research chair on quantum computer architectures. His theoretical work focusses on superconducting quantum circuits for quantum information processing and microwave quantum optics.

He is an active participant in the development of the field of circuit quantum electrodynamics (circuit QED), a leading quantum computer architecture. He is a member of the Quantum Information Science program of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, a member of the College of the Royal Society of Canada, and a Fellow of the American Physical Society. His research contributions have earned him a number of academic awards, including NSERC's Steacie Prize, the Canadian Association of Physicists' Herzberg and Brockhouse Medals, the Prix Urgel-Archambault from the Association francophone pour le savoir, the Rutherford Memorial Medal of the Royal Society of Canada, and a Guggenheim Fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.

Andrew Fursman co-founded 1QBit where he currently serves as CEO in addition to his founding role at 1QBit's independent spinouts, Good Chemistry and Synthesis Health. Andrew was a Founding Partner of Vancouver-based venture capital firm Minor Capital, Co-Founder of Satellogic Nano-Satellites (NASDAQ: SATL), and Co-Founder of Cloudtel Communications.

Andrew also sits on the World Economic Forum's Global Future Council on Computing. He studied Economics at the University of Waterloo and Philosophy and Political Science at the University of British Columbia prior to post-graduate programs in Technology Studies at Singularity University and Financial Engineering at Stanford University.

Atefeh Mashatan is a professor, founder and director of the Cybersecurity Research Lab (CRL) at Toronto Metropolitan University and recognized as a leading expert in cryptography, blockchain technology, quantum-resistant solutions, enterprise security architecture and Internet-of-Things (IoT) security. She holds a Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Quality of Security (QoS) Framework for IoT.

She also serves on the board of directors at Compute Ontario and that of the Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst. Her work has received the Enterprise Blockchain Award by the Blockchain Research Institute and she has been named one of the top 5 Women of Influence in Security by SC Magazine, one of Canada's Top 19 Tech Titans at the IBM CASCON Evoke conference, and one of the Top Women in Cybersecurity in Canada by IT World Canada. Previously, Dr. Mashatan was a Scientific Collaborator at the Security and Cryptography Laboratory of the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne and a Senior Information Security Consultant and Solutions Architect at CIBC. She received a BMath degree (Hons.) from Carleton University in 2002, a MMath degree from the University of Waterloo in 2003, and a Ph.D in combinatorics and optimization specializing in cryptography from the University of Waterloo in 2009.

Christian Weedbrook is the founder and CEO of Xanadu Quantum Technologies, a Canadian quantum technology company building fault-tolerant quantum computers using light. Over the last 15 years, he has been at the forefront of bringing quantum technology to the world through his research and leadership in academia, government, and industry.

Christian holds a PhD in Physics from the University of Queensland and held postdoctoral positions at MIT and the University of Toronto.

David Gosset is a quantum computer scientist interested in quantum algorithms and complexity theory, Associate Professor at the Institute for Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo, Associate Faculty at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, and a Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. He has worked on theoretical questions relevant to small quantum computers, including understanding the computational power of constant-depth quantum circuits and the limits of classical simulation algorithms.

He has also investigated the computational power and complexity of quantum many-body systems, and the application of physics-inspired tools from these areas to quantum computer science. He received the Pat Goldberg Memorial Best Paper Award from IBM Research in 2016 and 2018. Dr. Gosset received his PhD in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and held postdoctoral positions at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and the University of Waterloo.

Ian D'Souza is a physicist and engineering Fellow at Honeywell Aerospace Canada, with 30 years' experience in the space industry. Currently he is the Mission Science lead for the spacecraft for the QEYSSat program funded by the Canadian Space Agency which will demonstrate long-range entanglement and quantum key distribution (QKD) from low earth orbit. Dr. D'Souza initiated and managed the program for Honeywell's entry into QKD-from-space technology development in 2009, in collaboration with the Institute for Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo, for Defence Research and Development Canada.

He is also responsible for providing advice and technical direction on quantum technology business development at Honeywell, which is active in the three pillars of quantum communication, quantum sensors, and quantum computing. Ian's background is in theoretical particle physics, but his venture into space systems engineering has led to him playing critical roles in start-up ventures (space industry spin-offs), space-science missions, new materials development, as well as electronics, RF and surface acoustic wave hardware design for communications. He has authored several papers on space missions, space hardware, particle physics and he is co-author of a book on sub-quark models. He holds patents in SAW filter design, low secondary electron emission surface coatings, and maritime satellite constellation architecture. He has physics degrees from McGill University (B.Sc.) and Concordia University (Ph.D.) and is currently the Director of Private Sector Relations for the Canadian Association of Physicists.

Lindsay LeBlanc is Associate Professor of Physics at the University of Alberta, Canada Research Chair in Ultracold Gases for Quantum Simulation, and Director of Quantum Alberta. Dr. LeBlanc earned her BSc in Engineering Physics from the University of Alberta in 2003 and her Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Toronto in 2011, after which she headed to Gaithersburg, MD, where she worked with the Laser Cooling and Trapping Group of the Joint Quantum Institute at the National Institute for Standards and Technology.

She is an expert in experimental atomic physics, and her laboratory focuses on both fundamental research and practical applications in quantum science and technology using warm, cold, and ultracold atoms.

Martin Laforest is a quantum physicist by training and has spent his career ensuring that quantum technologies have a disruptive yet positive impact on industry and society. Martin is currently based in Sherbrooke and is a managing partner for Quantacet, an early stage, quantum-focused investment fund, and the director of Quantum Strategy for ACET, a deep tech incubator offering specific mentoring tailored to quantum enterprises.

Before joining the Sherbrooke quantum ecosystem, Martin was the senior product manager for ISARA Corporation, a quantum-safe security company. Martin also spent eight years promoting the impacts of quantum technologies to students, governments, companies and investors for the Institute for Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo where he also received his PhD.

Shohini Ghose is a Professor of Physics and Computer Science at Wilfrid Laurier University and holds a NSERC Chair for Women in Science and Engineering. Her research focuses on quantum computing and communication, and she and her colleagues were the first to observe a connection between chaos theory and quantum entanglement. She is a member of the expert panel on quantum technologies of the Council of Canadian Academies and is the Chair of the Working Group on Quantum Science and Technology of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics.

Dr. Ghose is the first person of colour to be President (2019-2020) of the Canadian Association of Physicists, and Co-Editor in Chief of the Canadian Journal of Physics. She currently serves on the Scientific Board of the UNESCO International Basic Science Programme. She was the founding Director of Laurier's Centre for Women in Science and helped develop Canada's national Dimensions program to promote equity, diversity and inclusion in academic institutions. She is the recipient of several awards, including a TED Senior Fellowship and selection to the College of the Royal Society of Canada. Dr. Ghose is an Affiliate of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics and the Institute for Quantum Computing, and a Fellow of the Balsillie School of International Affairs. She is the author of the book Her Space, Her Time: How trailblazing women scientists decoded the hidden universe. Her recent article on quantum computing was featured in the Harvard Business Review's Year in Tech 2022.