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THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE PROGRESS

QubitWire 100

100 people shaping quantum computing.

September 2026 editionHow we selected the 100

An independent editorial selection, presented alphabetically by surname.

Search names, organizations and contributions. Results stay alphabetical.

The directory49 results

Showing 49 of 100 people

B

5 people

Chief Executive Officer

D-Wave

Baratz leads D-Wave’s effort to turn quantum hardware into usable computing services, connecting annealing systems, hybrid software and customer-facing product development.

Quantum hardwareAlgorithms & complexity
Why included?

Baratz’s contribution is organizational and product-focused. D-Wave identifies him as the executive who previously led research and development and product delivery, and as its chief executive since 2020. The company’s computing offering combines annealing hardware, cloud access, development tools and hybrid solvers. This makes his work relevant to the practical question of how researchers and organizations gain access to quantum resources. The profile credits leadership of that development effort without assigning him sole authorship of the hardware or treating company performance claims as independently proven computational advantage.

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Emeritus Research Director

Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information, Innsbruck · Austria

Blatt advanced trapped-ion quantum computing through experiments on entanglement and coherent control, and helped take the Innsbruck approach into commercial hardware through AQT.

Quantum hardwareFoundations
Why included?

Blatt’s career connects precise atomic control with the challenge of assembling a quantum computer. The Innsbruck team’s creation of large entangled ion states demonstrated coordinated control while exposing how correlated noise grows with system size. His cofounding of Alpine Quantum Technologies then linked that laboratory expertise to a company building trapped-ion systems for users beyond the original research group. The common thread is engineering quantum information with individually controlled ions. His current institutional identification is emeritus research director, and team results are credited as collaborations throughout this profile.

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Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Atom Computing

Bloom founded Atom Computing and coauthored research on long-lived nuclear-spin qubits, connecting precision atomic physics with the development of scalable neutral-atom quantum computers.

Quantum hardwareControl & measurement
Why included?

Bloom’s contribution combines a specific qubit approach with building an organization to develop it. Atom Computing uses optically trapped neutral atoms, while his coauthored research demonstrates preparation and individual control of nuclear-spin states with long measured coherence. That work addresses the need to retain information while a processor performs operations and measurements. As founder and current chief executive, he also directs the company’s development toward logical qubits and fault tolerance. The profile credits that technical and organizational role without equating a long memory lifetime with a complete error-corrected computer.

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Neutral-atom quantum-computing researcher; Visiting Associate at Caltech

Caltech / Oratomic · United States

Bluvstein develops reconfigurable neutral-atom processors, helping demonstrate coherent transport of entangled atoms and programmable operations on encoded logical qubits in collaborative laboratory experiments.

Quantum hardwareError correction
Why included?

Bluvstein’s research addresses the geometry of a quantum computer: which qubits can interact, how they move, and how information is protected while operations proceed. His coauthored transport experiment used movable atom arrays to create flexible connectivity. A subsequent logical-processor experiment combined that architecture with encoded qubits and error detection. The significance is a concrete route from physical control to logical operations, supported by measured experiments. His identification has been updated from the supplied student biography: Harvard’s alumni page lists a Caltech visiting appointment, and Oratomic lists him on its team.

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Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Riverlane · United Kingdom

Brierley founded Riverlane to build quantum error-correction infrastructure, connecting decoding software, real-time classical hardware and the control systems needed to operate protected quantum computations.

Error correctionQuantum software
Why included?

Brierley’s role addresses a layer of quantum computing that is easy to overlook: the classical machinery that must interpret error measurements quickly enough to guide a quantum processor. Riverlane develops this infrastructure through integrated decoding and control products. As founder and chief executive, Brierley has focused an organization on making that work available across hardware approaches. His inclusion reflects that effort to turn error correction into a functioning systems component. It does not assign individual invention credit for every decoder or treat a company roadmap as proof that scalable fault tolerance has already been achieved.

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C

2 people

Director, Institute for Quantum Control

Forschungszentrum Jülich · Germany

Calarco develops quantum-control approaches and helps organize European quantum research, connecting the precise manipulation of devices with coordinated programs for building quantum technologies.

Control & measurementPolicy & institutions
Why included?

Calarco’s contribution links technical control research with the institutions that support it. His institute works on methods for steering quantum systems toward desired operations, a problem shared by multiple qubit approaches. He also helped shape the Quantum Manifesto and the European coordination that followed, connecting a research agenda to a broader technology program. This combination matters because useful quantum computing depends on both precise operations and sustained collaboration across groups. The profile identifies those documented activities without crediting him with every result produced by the programs he helped organize.

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IBM Fellow and CTO of Quantum-Centric Supercomputing

IBM Research

Chow develops superconducting quantum-computing hardware, with experimental contributions to microwave entangling gates and parity measurements that connect individual qubits to error-correction architectures.

Quantum hardwareControl & measurement
Why included?

Chow’s work follows the engineering path from controlling two qubits to coordinating the operations needed by a protected quantum computer. A microwave entangling-gate experiment demonstrated interaction between fixed-frequency superconducting qubits. A later parity-detection experiment used a third qubit to measure shared information about two data qubits, an operation needed in error-correcting architectures. These results are specific, coauthored steps toward scalable systems. His current IBM role also concerns integration with classical computing; the profile uses IBM’s June 2026 identification rather than the older director title supplied in the draft.

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D

3 people

Professor of Physics at UC Santa Barbara and Chief Scientist of Google Quantum AI

University of California, Santa Barbara; Google Quantum AI · United States

An experimental physicist whose circuit-quantum research connects macroscopic quantum behavior with superconducting qubit designs, including collaborative development of the charge-noise-resistant transmon.

Quantum hardwareControl & measurement
Why included?

Devoret’s work links foundational tests of quantum mechanics in electrical circuits with the engineering of superconducting quantum processors. His early experiments with John Clarke and John Martinis established macroscopic quantum behavior in circuit systems. Later collaborative work contributed to the transmon qubit. That path matters because building a processor requires both confidence in the underlying physical system and designs that reduce its sensitivity to environmental disturbances while preserving control.

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Quantum information theorist; former director of PGI-2

Forschungszentrum Jülich (former institute director)

Set out practical criteria for quantum computing and co-proposed electron-spin qubits in quantum dots, connecting abstract computation to the requirements of physical devices.

FoundationsQuantum hardware
Why included?

DiVincenzo connects two questions that every hardware program must answer: what must a quantum computer be able to do, and which physical system can do it? His implementation criteria provide a vocabulary for assessing qubit preparation, control, coherence and measurement. With Daniel Loss he proposed a concrete semiconductor-spin architecture. Together, these contributions link general requirements to an enduring experimental direction. The profile credits the shared proposal jointly and separates that scientific legacy from institutional responsibilities that have since changed.

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Chief Executive Officer and Founder

Diraq · Australia

A silicon-quantum-computing researcher and company founder whose work connects two-qubit logic in silicon with efforts to develop processors using semiconductor manufacturing approaches.

Quantum hardwareIndustry & commercialization
Why included?

Dzurak’s contribution centers on making silicon a controllable quantum-computing medium and pursuing its commercial development. He coauthored an experimental two-qubit gate using electron spins in silicon quantum dots, an important step beyond isolated single-qubit operation. As Diraq’s founder and chief executive, he also directs a company pursuing silicon-based processors. The significance lies in this connection between a demonstrated building block and an engineering program; large-scale performance remains something to demonstrate.

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G

4 people

Director of IBM Research and IBM Fellow

IBM · United States

A superconducting-quantum-computing researcher and IBM research leader whose work includes the transmon proposal and leadership of programs connecting quantum processors with software developers.

Quantum hardwareQuantum software
Why included?

Gambetta’s work spans the physical design of quantum processors and the systems used to make them accessible. He coauthored the transmon proposal, contributing to a device design that reduced charge-noise sensitivity. IBM also identifies his leadership in cloud quantum computing and Qiskit development. The profile therefore connects a specific research contribution with an organizational role in building a developer ecosystem, while preserving the distinction between his work and the collective output of IBM teams.

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Sterling Professor of Physics and Professor of Applied Physics

Yale University · United States

A theoretical physicist whose collaborative research helped establish circuit quantum electrodynamics and the transmon, linking superconducting circuits with controllable interactions between qubits and microwave fields.

Quantum hardwareControl & measurement
Why included?

Girvin’s work helps explain how superconducting electrical circuits can function as engineered quantum systems. The circuit-QED architecture he coauthored described how microwave resonators could support interactions, control and measurement. His subsequent participation in the transmon proposal addressed a key source of qubit noise. These ideas connect theoretical descriptions of light–matter interaction with the design choices needed to build and operate circuit-based quantum processors.

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Chief Executive Officer and Cofounder

IQM Quantum Computers · Finland

A quantum-computing entrepreneur who cofounded IQM and leads its work on superconducting systems, with an emphasis on installations connected to research and supercomputing infrastructure.

Industry & commercializationQuantum hardware
Why included?

Goetz’s role is to build an organization capable of turning superconducting-quantum research into systems that institutions can operate. He cofounded IQM in 2018 and represented the company in the Q-Exa consortium, which planned integration with the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre’s environment. His contribution is therefore best understood through company formation, partnerships and infrastructure delivery. Technical specifications and scientific results remain attributable to the relevant teams and require their own evidence.

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Quantum-information physicist

University of Science and Technology of China · China

A quantum-information physicist whose work spans the foundations of quantum-state manipulation and collaborative experiments in long-lived optical storage for quantum communication.

Quantum networksQuantum hardware
Why included?

Guo’s contributions connect theoretical questions about quantum states with experimental components for communication. His work with Luming Duan explored probabilistic cloning under specified conditions, while later coauthored research demonstrated hour-scale coherent optical storage in a solid-state memory. These are different kinds of progress: one clarifies what quantum mechanics permits, and the other improves a physical resource that communication schemes may require. Neither should be confused with unrestricted cloning or an already deployed global quantum network.

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H

2 people

Chief Technology Officer, Pasqal

Pasqal

Henriet connects neutral-atom hardware with algorithms, studying dissipative effects in variational optimization and helping articulate the capabilities and development path of programmable atom-based computers.

Algorithms & complexityQuantum simulation
Why included?

Henriet’s work spans the theoretical behavior of neutral-atom algorithms and the practical task of organizing a hardware platform. His study of variational optimization under spontaneous emission asks how a realistic noise process changes performance. A collaborative review then sets out how controllable atom arrays support analog and digital computation. Pasqal currently identifies him as CTO, following a period as CEO. The profile emphasizes these documented technical and organizational contributions without treating a roadmap as demonstrated capability.

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Professor, ETH Zurich

ETH Zurich · Switzerland

Home develops trapped-ion control and oscillator encodings, helping demonstrate a logical grid-state qubit and correction cycles that prolong information stored in an ion’s motion.

Error correctionControl & measurement
Why included?

Home’s experimental work explores how a single oscillator can carry a protected logical qubit. His collaborations first prepared and controlled grid states in the motion of a trapped calcium ion, then demonstrated correction of small shifts in position and momentum. This connects a mathematical encoding to the physical operations needed to maintain it. The results are significant steps in quantum control and error correction, with their scope limited to the particular encoded systems and procedures tested.

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K

3 people

Schiciano Family Distinguished Professor, Duke University; cofounder of IonQ

Duke University · United States

Kim develops engineering approaches for scalable trapped-ion computers and networks, connecting ion-trap design and photonics with academic research and the commercialization of quantum hardware through IonQ.

Quantum hardwareQuantum networks
Why included?

Kim’s contributions connect the physics of individual ions with the engineering required for larger processors. His work with Christopher Monroe analyzed architectures involving microfabricated traps and photonic connections, making scale a concrete systems question. He then cofounded IonQ to translate university research into a computing business. Duke’s current faculty profile anchors his professional identification. The profile treats IonQ’s creation as an entrepreneurial contribution and reserves technical claims for the research that directly supports them.

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Ronald and Maxine Linde Professor of Theoretical Physics and Mathematics, Caltech

California Institute of Technology · United States

Kitaev developed foundational approaches to protecting quantum information, including computation with anyons and the oscillator encoding now known as the Gottesman–Kitaev–Preskill code.

Error correctionFoundations
Why included?

Kitaev’s work changes how quantum information can be represented and protected. His anyon construction connects fault-tolerant operations to the structure of a two-dimensional quantum system. With Gottesman and Preskill, he also showed how a discrete logical qubit could be embedded in a continuous-variable oscillator and protected against small shifts. These ideas provide architectural building blocks across different hardware programs. They are theoretical constructions whose physical realization requires additional experimental control and error-management work.

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Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University

Northwestern University · United States

Koch helped introduce the transmon and fluxonium, superconducting circuit designs that address charge noise while preserving the controllable quantum behavior needed for computation.

Quantum hardwareControl & measurement
Why included?

Koch’s contributions show how circuit design can reduce a physical obstacle to quantum computing. The transmon paper identifies an operating regime that strongly suppresses sensitivity to charge noise while retaining enough nonlinearity for qubit control. The fluxonium work uses a different circuit structure to manage offset charges. Both arose from collaborations and are linked here to their original research. Together they illustrate the role of theoretical modeling in choosing hardware that experiments can build and control.

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L

3 people

Chief Technology Officer and cofounder, Alice & Bob

Alice & Bob

Lescanne helped demonstrate cat-qubit protection against bit flips and cofounded Alice & Bob to develop superconducting hardware that uses this asymmetry between error types.

Error correctionQuantum hardware
Why included?

Lescanne’s research explores whether hardware can suppress one class of errors before a larger correction code is applied. His collaborative cat-qubit experiment encoded information in a superconducting resonator stabilized by two-photon dissipation. Increasing the separation of its states suppressed bit flips, while phase flips still required attention. Alice & Bob’s history links that work to its 2020 founding. His contribution thus spans an experimentally tested protection mechanism and the attempt to develop it into a computing architecture.

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Professor, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen

University of Copenhagen · Denmark

Lodahl develops interfaces between solid-state emitters and light, advancing photonic entanglement, programmable optical interactions and the building blocks of quantum networks and processors.

Quantum networksControl & measurement
Why included?

Lodahl works on the point where matter can prepare, control and connect individual photons. His collaborations use quantum emitters in nanophotonic structures to generate entanglement and enable optical interactions that photons would not ordinarily provide by themselves. Recent experiments demonstrate temporal fusion of entangled resource states and programmable nonlinear circuits. These are concrete components for photonic computing and networking, rather than claims that a complete large-scale photonic computer has already been assembled.

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Professor of Theoretical Physics

University of Basel · Switzerland

Co-proposed quantum computing with electron spins in quantum dots and helped develop the theoretical and institutional foundations of semiconductor-spin quantum information processing.

Quantum hardwareFoundations
Why included?

Loss helped turn the spin of a confined electron into a detailed proposal for a quantum-computing building block. The shared Loss–DiVincenzo architecture specifies how spins could store information and interact to perform gates, while later work examines the obstacles between that proposal and an operating machine. His Basel research and participation in NCCR SPIN connect the theoretical program to a broader semiconductor-qubit effort. Inclusion recognizes an architectural contribution and sustained research activity, without assigning him every subsequent experimental result in the field.

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M

5 people

Professor and Boeing Johnson Endowed Chair, University of Washington

University of Washington · United States

Marcus investigates quantum electronic devices, contributing to coherent control of electron-spin qubits and to semiconductor–superconductor materials that enable new approaches to quantum hardware.

Quantum hardwareControl & measurement
Why included?

Marcus’s experimental work connects quantum-information goals with the behavior of electronic materials. A collaborative double-quantum-dot experiment demonstrated preparation, manipulation and readout of two-electron spin states, including techniques to suppress dephasing. Later work on epitaxial semiconductor–superconductor nanowires improved control of the material interface, an essential issue for hybrid devices. These contributions illustrate two routes through solid-state quantum hardware. His current professional identification follows the University of Washington faculty page, which records his move there in 2023.

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Chief Technology Officer and cofounder, Qolab

Qolab

Martinis develops superconducting quantum hardware, contributing to surface-code architecture and the Sycamore random-circuit experiment, and now works on scalable processor engineering as Qolab’s CTO.

Quantum hardwareError correction
Why included?

Martinis connects superconducting device engineering with the demands of quantum computation. His collaborative surface-code paper makes protection requirements concrete through logical operations and resource estimates. The Sycamore experiment later tested programmable superconducting hardware on a specific sampling benchmark. Its historical performance comparison should be read in that setting, rather than as a claim of advantage for all useful applications. His current Qolab role continues the engineering focus on building and scaling quantum processors.

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Gilhuly Family Presidential Distinguished Professor

Duke University · United States

Develops trapped-ion quantum computers and photonic interconnects, linking precise control of individual atomic qubits with architectures that connect separate quantum processors into larger systems.

Quantum networksQuantum hardware
Why included?

Monroe’s work addresses both computation inside an ion processor and communication between processors. The reviewed experiments show why those tasks belong together: mid-circuit measurement must avoid damaging stored data, while modular machines need entanglement across physically separated memories. His Duke group’s recent papers offer concrete examples of each. These are specific experimental building blocks for scalable systems, rather than evidence that a useful, fully fault-tolerant machine has already been delivered.

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Scientia Professor of Quantum Engineering

UNSW Sydney · Australia

Uses the electron and nuclear spins of individual atoms in silicon as quantum information carriers, developing the control and readout methods needed to make those qubits usable.

Quantum hardwareControl & measurement
Why included?

Morello’s contribution centers on making a single atom in silicon behave as a controllable information system. His group’s electron-spin work established practical readout and control, followed by nuclear-spin demonstrations that exploited a different part of the same atom. This gives silicon quantum computing both processing and memory possibilities. The research is significant because a qubit needs preparation, operations and measurement together; long coherence alone is insufficient. The cited results remain specific experimental demonstrations rather than evidence of a completed large-scale processor.

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Founder and CTO

Quantum Motion · United Kingdom

Connects silicon-spin quantum research with semiconductor manufacturing, combining contributions to atomic-scale quantum control with the development of Quantum Motion’s silicon computing architecture.

Quantum hardwareIndustry & commercialization
Why included?

Morton spans fundamental control of spins in silicon and the practical demands of producing a quantum computer. His coauthored nuclear-spin experiment demonstrates the first side of that connection, while founding Quantum Motion addresses architecture and industrial fabrication. The company’s current team page identifies him as founder and CTO. Phasecraft also identifies him as a director and co-founder, so those affiliations are complementary rather than mutually exclusive. This profile emphasizes documented research and founding contributions without assigning company-wide inventions to him alone.

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N

4 people

Director, RIKEN Center for Quantum Computing

RIKEN · Japan

Helped demonstrate coherent control in an early superconducting qubit and now leads RIKEN’s quantum-computing center, connecting circuit physics with the development of working quantum systems.

Quantum hardwareControl & measurement
Why included?

Nakamura’s 1999 experiment made a superconducting electrical device function as a coherently controlled two-level quantum system. That result is a concrete foundation for the superconducting route pursued by many current processors. His present RIKEN role adds a second contribution: directing a center that builds and studies actual quantum computers across multiple approaches. These are distinct forms of influence, experimental demonstration and research organization. The record does not attribute every RIKEN system or performance result to him individually.

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Technical Fellow and Corporate Vice President of Quantum Hardware

Microsoft · United States

Connects the theory of non-Abelian particles and topological quantum computation with Microsoft’s long-term quantum-hardware program, pursuing ways to encode information with protection built into the physical system.

Error correctionQuantum hardware
Why included?

Nayak’s inclusion rests on a documented theoretical contribution and a clearly identified hardware leadership role. His coauthored review connects non-Abelian statistics, braiding and fault-tolerant computation, providing a framework for evaluating proposed topological machines. At Microsoft he leads efforts to translate that approach into hardware. The distinction between a theoretical architecture and a demonstrated, scalable processor is essential here. This profile does not treat company announcements about Majorana devices as independent confirmation that universal topological quantum computation has been achieved.

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Vice President of Engineering; Founder and Lead, Google Quantum AI

Google · United States

Built Google’s quantum research program around superconducting processors, quantum algorithms and error correction, helping connect experimental milestones with a sustained effort toward useful large-scale computing.

Quantum hardwareError correction
Why included?

Neven’s contribution is the creation and leadership of a research program that joins hardware, algorithms and error correction. His own account dates the founding of Google Quantum AI to 2012. The Willow announcement documents a later milestone: logical error rates falling as the error-correcting code grows. Together these show both institutional continuity and a technically meaningful target. The profile credits the experiments to the research team and distinguishes benchmark or error-correction demonstrations from general commercial usefulness.

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Vice President of Quantum Architecture

PsiQuantum · United States

Designs fault-tolerant architectures for photonic quantum computers, developing ways to assemble small entangled resources and use connectivity efficiently while controlling the cost of error correction.

Error correctionQuantum hardware
Why included?

Nickerson works on the architecture between physical photonic components and reliable computation. Fusion-based quantum computing makes small resource states and entangling measurements the building blocks of a larger machine. Her work with Daniel Litinski on active volume asks a complementary question: how can available nonlocal connections reduce the cost of logical operations? These are theoretical architecture contributions with explicit assumptions. They help define what hardware must deliver rather than establish that the full proposed computer has already been built.

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O

2 people

Co-Founder and Executive Chairman

PsiQuantum · United States

Connects early optical quantum-gate experiments with the effort to manufacture large photonic quantum computers, now guiding PsiQuantum’s strategy and partnerships as executive chairman.

Quantum hardwareIndustry & commercialization
Why included?

O’Brien’s work spans the laboratory demonstration of an optical logic gate and the organization of a company around photonic quantum computing. The controlled-NOT experiment is a specific early result: it produced entangled photon states using an optical circuit, with limitations inherent to its probabilistic operation. PsiQuantum extends the photonic approach toward semiconductor manufacturing and large systems. His February 2026 move to executive chairman identifies a strategic role; it should not be confused with an ongoing chief executive title.

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Professor of Physics; Director, Center for Quantum Engineering

Massachusetts Institute of Technology · United States

Develops superconducting quantum hardware across materials, devices and control, studying both the interactions that make processors work and the environmental effects that limit their reliability.

Quantum hardwareControl & measurement
Why included?

Oliver’s research links device engineering with the physics of reliable superconducting qubits. His coauthored work on giant artificial atoms demonstrates ways to control coupling and preserve interactions through a shared waveguide. A separate radiation study identifies an environmental source of quasiparticles that can degrade coherence, showing why processor design must include its surroundings. Together these contributions address useful interactions and unwanted disturbances. His MIT leadership connects that research with the broader engineering required to build quantum systems.

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P

4 people

John G. Braun Professor of Applied Physics and Physics; Director of Quantum Hardware, AWS

Caltech / Amazon Web Services · United States

Connects precision control of light and mechanical motion with superconducting quantum hardware, including the cat-qubit approach used by AWS to explore lower-overhead quantum error correction.

Quantum hardwareError correction
Why included?

Painter’s contributions join the control of quantum physical systems with the engineering of a computing architecture. His group’s micromechanical experiment generated squeezed light on a silicon device, showing how designed structures can manipulate optical noise. More recently, his AWS hardware program demonstrated the Ocelot cat-qubit chip with error correction. The two results operate at different levels, device physics and encoded computation. Ocelot is an experimental building block toward larger systems, with substantial engineering still required for useful fault-tolerant computing.

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Professor of Physics

University of Science and Technology of China · China

Develops photonic quantum experiments across computing and communication, connecting large-scale optical sampling with satellite-enabled distribution of quantum keys between distant locations on Earth.

Quantum hardwareQuantum networks
Why included?

Pan’s work places photonics in two complementary settings: specialized quantum computing experiments and long-distance quantum communication. His team’s Jiuzhang research tests optical sampling tasks at scales that challenge classical simulation. Collaboration using the Micius satellite demonstrates how quantum key distribution can connect distant ground locations. These contributions are technically distinct, so neither establishes the other’s performance. The evidence supports experimental leadership across both fields, while the sampling results should not be presented as a universal or application-ready quantum computer.

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Co-Founder and CEO

Alice & Bob · France

Builds quantum hardware around cat qubits, connecting experimental suppression of selected errors in an oscillator with Alice & Bob’s effort to develop fault-tolerant superconducting computers.

Quantum hardwareError correction
Why included?

Peronnin’s contribution begins with a concrete physical result: a coauthored experiment showed that an oscillator encoding could suppress bit flips exponentially as its encoded states were separated. That bias changes how error correction can be designed, although the remaining errors still require protection. Co-founding Alice & Bob with Raphaël Lescanne brought this approach into a company focused on quantum computing. His inclusion recognizes the connection between experimental research and sustained system development, without treating a proposed scalable architecture as already complete.

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Assistant Professor of Applied Physics

Yale University · United States

Designs quantum operations and error-correction methods that exploit structured noise, linking the theory of cat-qubit gates with experimental stabilization, control and measurement of superconducting oscillator qubits.

Error correctionQuantum hardware
Why included?

Puri’s work asks how a qubit’s physical noise can shape the design of a reliable computer. Her bias-preserving-gate research develops operations that maintain an advantageous error structure instead of destroying it during computation. The Kerr-cat experiment supplies a complementary physical demonstration, combining stabilization, gates and readout in a superconducting oscillator. These contributions connect device behavior with fault-tolerant architecture. They support an approach to reducing the demands of error correction under stated assumptions, rather than eliminating errors altogether.

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R

1 person

Co-Founder and Chief Strategic Alliances Officer

Pasqal · France

Connects early research on individually trapped atoms with the development of Pasqal, now leading strategic alliances as the company builds its neutral-atom quantum-computing business.

Quantum hardwareIndustry & commercialization
Why included?

Reymond links the laboratory origins of neutral-atom control with the organization of a company around that platform. Pasqal’s leadership biography identifies his doctoral work with Philippe Grangier and a 2001 single-atom trapping publication. It also documents his role as a founder and the executive who helped develop the company internationally. His current responsibility is strategic alliances, a different remit from the founding chief executive role. The profile recognizes those documented contributions without crediting every Pasqal technical result to him personally.

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S

5 people

Johannes Rydberg Professor of Physics

University of Wisconsin–Madison · United States

Develops neutral-atom quantum processors, with research spanning multi-qubit entanglement, quantum algorithms and measurements that preserve the information stored in neighboring atomic qubits.

Quantum hardwareError correction
Why included?

Saffman connects the physics of individually controlled atoms to the operations a programmable quantum computer needs. His publications address both entangling several qubits and measuring selected atoms while protecting other qubits. These are distinct engineering steps: preparing useful quantum states does not by itself provide the repeated measurements required for error correction. His inclusion reflects documented experimental contributions to that progression and an active neutral-atom research program at Wisconsin.

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Sterling Professor of Applied Physics

Yale University · United States

Helped establish circuit quantum electrodynamics and co-developed the transmon, connecting superconducting qubits to microwave circuits that can control and protect quantum information.

Quantum hardwareError correction
Why included?

Schoelkopf helped turn superconducting electrical circuits into a platform for manipulating quantum information. Circuit quantum electrodynamics provides a way to couple artificial atoms to microwave photons, while the transmon design reduces a major source of qubit sensitivity. These contributions concern the physical building blocks of a processor, not just a single demonstration. His Yale research also connects those devices to quantum operations and error correction, linking foundational circuit design to the demands of computation.

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Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer

PsiQuantum

Connects photonic experiments and quantum algorithms with industrial system design, from a variational molecular-energy demonstration to scientific leadership of PsiQuantum’s photonic computing program.

Algorithms & complexityQuantum hardware
Why included?

Shadbolt’s work spans two scales of photonic quantum computing. As a researcher, he co-authored a small quantum–classical experiment for estimating molecular energy. As a PsiQuantum co-founder and scientific leader, he works on the system-level challenge of building a useful photonic computer. That combination makes his contribution distinctive: algorithm experiments test how quantum hardware might be used, while architecture and manufacturing work address how such hardware might grow. The experimental result and the company’s larger ambitions remain separate claims.

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Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Silicon Quantum Computing · Australia

Develops quantum devices by placing atoms precisely in silicon, connecting single-atom electronics and coupled-qubit control to the manufacturing of silicon quantum processors.

Quantum hardware
Why included?

Simmons pursues a route to quantum computing in which the placement of individual atoms is part of the device design. Her research record connects atomic-scale fabrication to electronic components and operations on silicon qubits. She also founded Silicon Quantum Computing to develop that approach commercially. Her inclusion rests on the connection between a distinctive manufacturing method and demonstrated device physics, with academic research and company development clearly identified as related but different activities.

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Co-Founder and Chief Quantum Officer

Photonic · Canada

Develops silicon spin–photon technology and helped found Photonic, bringing quantum information stored in silicon together with optical links for distributed quantum computing.

Quantum hardwareQuantum networks
Why included?

Simmons works at the interface between storing quantum information and transmitting it. Her research on silicon spin–photon systems underpins Photonic’s approach to connecting qubits optically, and she leads the company’s technical vision as Chief Quantum Officer. That combination of local quantum memory and remote connection is central to a distributed architecture. Her profile therefore focuses on the physical interface and the organization she helped create, without treating prospective scale or fault tolerance as demonstrated achievements.

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T

2 people

Group leader

QuTech, Delft University of Technology · Netherlands

Studies how quantum information can survive noise, combining rigorous limits on quantum memories with error-correction theory and research connected to physical qubit architectures.

Error correctionFoundations
Why included?

Terhal’s work asks which kinds of protection quantum information can actually obtain from a physical system. A rigorous limitation on passive stabilizer-code memories clarifies what some architectures cannot provide automatically. Her broader work on quantum error correction explains the active codes, thresholds and decoding strategies used to pursue reliable storage and computation. This combination of constructive theory and carefully stated limits makes her research valuable for judging hardware proposals without confusing a promising design with proven resilience.

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Technical Fellow and Corporate Vice President of Quantum

Microsoft

Connects quantum many-body physics, computational complexity and machine learning with the design of quantum-computing architectures and applications that could outperform classical approaches.

Quantum simulationAlgorithms & complexity
Why included?

Troyer’s research helps define both the difficulty of simulating quantum matter and the tools available to approach it. His work on the fermionic sign problem identifies a fundamental obstacle to a generic classical simulation method, while neural-network quantum states offer a different representation for selected many-body systems. At Microsoft he works on quantum architecture and applications. The thread across these activities is concrete computational cost: understanding what makes a problem hard and what an alternative method would need to improve.

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V

1 person

Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Professor

Delft University of Technology / QuTech · Netherlands

Develops quantum control of spins, from an early nuclear-magnetic-resonance demonstration of Shor’s algorithm to semiconductor quantum dots designed for quantum computation and simulation.

Quantum hardwareControl & measurement
Why included?

Vandersypen’s career connects an early experimental test of a quantum algorithm with the continuing challenge of building controllable solid-state qubits. The nuclear-spin experiment demonstrated a small instance of factoring, while his Delft program develops ways to trap, initialize, manipulate and read individual electron spins. These contributions address different stages of the field. Together they show how algorithm demonstrations and detailed device control can inform the search for physical systems that support larger quantum computations.

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W

2 people

Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Xanadu

Combines research in continuous-variable quantum information with the creation of Xanadu, a company developing quantum computers and software around photonic approaches to quantum technology.

FoundationsQuantum hardware
Why included?

Weedbrook connects the theoretical language of continuous-variable quantum information to an industrial photonic-computing effort. His co-authored review organized Gaussian states, operations and measurements across quantum communication and computation. His founding of Xanadu then created an organization working on photonic quantum technology. The contribution is both scientific and institutional, but the two are evaluated separately: a review establishes a documented research contribution, while company leadership establishes responsibility for a continuing development program.

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Professor of Physics

University of Queensland · Australia

Develops photonic quantum technology and methods for characterizing quantum states, including collaborative work on an optical controlled-NOT gate and reliable reconstruction of two-qubit states.

Quantum hardwareControl & measurement
Why included?

White’s research links making a quantum operation work with establishing what the experiment actually produced. An optical controlled-NOT gate demonstrates interactions between photon-encoded qubits, while quantum-state tomography provides methods to reconstruct and assess the resulting states. Those contributions are complementary: an experimental device needs trustworthy characterization as well as control. His current Queensland research continues that focus on photonic technology and entanglement, with the early demonstrations credited to their collaborating teams.

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Z

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Professor emeritus

University of Innsbruck · Austria

Co-proposed a trapped-ion quantum-computing architecture and controllable ultracold-atom simulations, translating theoretical quantum information into physical systems that experimental laboratories could build and study.

Quantum hardwareQuantum simulation
Why included?

Zoller helped bridge abstract quantum computation and concrete atomic experiments. The Cirac–Zoller proposal explained how trapped ions and laser control could implement quantum logic, while optical-lattice work showed how ultracold atoms could realize tunable many-body models. Both contributions give experiments a physical blueprint rather than only a mathematical target. His current identification is professor emeritus at Innsbruck; his inclusion is grounded in those collaborative architectures and their connection to quantum simulation and controlled quantum dynamics.

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