Entangled Things

In Episode 34, Patrick and Ciprian speak with Dr Prineha Narang, Assistant Professor of Computational Materials Science at Harvard University. Among other topics, the team discuss fundamental science, materials science, repeater applications, and scalable Quantum networks.Prineha Narang is an Assistant Professor at the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University. Prior to joining the faculty, Prineha came to Harvard as a Ziff Environmental Fellow at the Harvard University Center for the Environment. She was also a Research Scholar in Condensed Matter Theory at the MIT Dept. of Physics, working on new theoretical methods to describe quantum interactions.Prineha’s work has been recognized by many awards and special designations, including the Mildred Dresselhaus Prize,  a Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award (Bessel Prize) from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, a Max Planck Sabbatical Award from the Max Planck Society, and the IUPAP Young Scientist Prize in Computational Physics in 2021,  a National Science Foundation CAREER Award in 2020, being named a Moore Inventor Fellow by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation for innovations in quantum science and technology, CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar by the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, a Top Innovator by MIT Tech Review (MIT TR35), and a Young Scientist by the World Economic Forum in 2018. In 2017, she was named by Forbes Magazine on their “30under30” list for her work in atom-by-atom quantum engineering. Prineha designs materials at the smallest scale, using single atoms, to enable the leap to quantum technologies.

In Episode 33, Patrick and Ciprian speak with Alan Grau, Vice President of Business Development at PQShield. Among other topics, the team discuss emerging standards, the impact of quantum computing on cryptography, and how the security industry is adapting to future threats from quantum computers.Alan Grau, VP Business Development, PQShieldAlan is a proven entrepreneur and technology executive focused on cybersecurity, IoT and embedded software solutions. He is VP, Business Development for PQShield, the leading provider of Post Quantum Crypto Solutions.   Prior to joining PQShield Alan was VP of IoT & Embedded Solutions at Sectigo (formerly Comodo CA), the world’s largest commercial Certificate Authority. Alan joined Sectigo as part of the company’s acquisition of Icon Labs, a leading provider of security software for IoT and embedded devices, where he was President and co-founder, as well as the architect of Icon Labs' award-winning Floodgate Firewall. Icon Labs was named a 2014 Gartner “Cool Vendor” and 2015 Gartner “Select Vendor” focused on creating The Internet of Secure Things by providing security solutions for even the smallest IoT devices.   Prior to founding Icon Labs, Alan worked for AT&T Bell Labs and Motorola. He is a frequent industry speaker and blogger and holds multiple patents related to telecommunication and security.Alan has an MS in computer science from Northwestern University. 

In Episode 32, Patrick and Ciprian speak with Bob Coecke, Chief Scientist at Quantinuum. Among other topics, the team discuss the limitations of traditional natural language processing, how quantum natural language processing can be used in the future, and what problems it can solve.Bob Coecke is Chief Scientist at Cambridge Quantum / Quantinuum.  He also heads the Oxford-based Compositional Intelligence & Quantum NLP team and is Emeritus Professor at Wolfson College, Oxford University. Previously, he was Professor of Quantum Foundations, Logics and Structures at the Computer Science department at Oxford University, where he was for 20 years, and co-founded, built, and led a multi-disciplinary research group of up to 50 people. He supervised 66 PhD students. He pioneered Categorical Quantum Mechanics (now in AMS's MSC2020 classification), ZX-calculus, DisCoCat natural language meaning, mathematical foundations for resource theories, Quantum Natural Language Processing, and is co-author of Picturing Quantum Processes, a book providing a fully diagrammatic treatment of quantum theory and its applications. He co-authored close to 200 research papers. He's a founding father of the QPL (Quantum Physics and Logic) and ACT (Applied Category Theory) communities, the diamond open access journal Compositionality, and Cambridge University Press' Applied Category Theory book series. He was the first person to have Quantum Foundations as part of his professorial title. His work headlined in various media outlets, including Forbes, New Scientist, PhysicsWorld, ComputerWeekly. 

In Episode 31, Patrick and Ciprian speak with Tim Hollebeek, Industry Technology Strategist at DigiCert. The team discuss symmetric and asymmetric cryptography, the future landscape of post quantum cryptography, and the coexistence of classical and quantum based computing systems.Timothy Hollebeek has nearly two decades of computer security experience, including eight years working on innovative security research funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. He remains heavily involved as DigiCert’s primary representative in multiple industry standards bodies, including the CA/Browser Forum, striving for improved information security practices that work with real-world implementations. A mathematician by trade, Tim spends a lot of time considering security approaches to quantum computing.  

In Episode 30, Patrick and Ciprian speak with Andrew Lord of British Telecom.The team discuss optical technology, photonics over fiber and free space, quantum networks, and international motivations for quantum research.Andrew Lord, Senior Manager Optical Networks and Quantum Research, BT.Andrew joined BT in 1985 after a BA in Physics from Oxford University. He has helped design a wide range of optical network systems and technologies, including long haul subsea and terrestrial DWDM networks. He has been responsible for optical fibre and systems specifications. He currently leads BT’s optical research including optical access, high speed transmission and quantum communications. He has recently initiated BT’s quantum research, with applications in areas such as secure communications, timing and sensing. He regularly speaks at conferences, sits on several organising committees, including ECOC and was Technical Program Chair for OFC 2015 and General Chair for OFC 2017. He will be TPC co-chair of ECOC 2023. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Optical Communications and Networking, He is Visiting Professor at Essex University, Senior Member of the IEEE.

In Episode 29, Patrick and Ciprian speak with Dr. Sebastian Weidt of the Universal Quantum.The team discuss the challenges of engineering and developing a million Qubit Quantum system, error correction, and scaling towards distributed quantum computing.Dr Sebastian Weidt is the Co-founder and CEO of Universal Quantum- a UK company developing the world’s first million qubit quantum computer. He is also a Senior Lecturer in Quantum Technologies at the University of Sussex, with more than 10 years' experience in the field of quantum computing. During this time, Sebastian co-created the first scalable quantum computer blueprint, which involved inventing a pioneering approach to building a million-qubit machine.  This ion trap-based architecture uses unique, electronic quantum computing modules based on silicon technology where individual modules are connected using ultrafast electric field links. Using currently available engineering, the beauty of this quantum computer blueprint lies in its scalability and ability to build a million-qubit machine-the threshold where you can unlock ‘useful’ applications in areas such as medicine, materials science and much more.  Previously, Sebastian worked as a business consultant in Berlin before completing his PhD and postdoctoral research fellowship in quantum information technology, specializing in scalable trapped ion quantum gate operations. 

In Episode 28, Patrick and Ciprian speak with Lajos Hanzo of the University of Southampton. The team discuss Quantum Networking, Quantum AI and Quantum search algorithms, physical layer security, and the international communications race. Lajos Hanzo earned his Doctorate at the Technical University (TU) of Budapest, his Doctor of Sciences (DSc) degree at the University of Southampton (2004) and Honorary Doctorate at the University of Edinburgh (2015).  He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and a Foreign Member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences as well as a former Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Press.  Since 1998 he has held the Chair of Telecommunications at Southampton University, UK where he has directed the research of wireless communications and nurtured over 100 doctoral students. He has published widely, including frontier research on paving the way from classical communications to quantum communications.(http://www-mobile.ecs.soton.ac.uk, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lajos_Hanzo)

In Episode 27, Patrick and Ciprian take a retrospective look at this past year of Entangled Things.The team discuss the origins of the show, some of the major announcements of last year, and postulate where this next year will take us.

In Episode 26, Patrick and Ciprian speak with Dr. Terrill Frantz of Harrisburg University.The team discuss Quantum from the perspective of the computer scientist, Monte Carlo device simulation, and the methods of teaching quantum for students of varied ages and backgrounds.Terrill Frantz is a university professor focused on multiple aspects of workforce development for quantum technologies.  He teaches, develops degree programs, and studies labor economics within the quantum field.   Beyond traditional workforce development activities, he produces events and is highly engaged in the standards-setting process. Terrill holds a doctorate degree from the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University (USA) as well as a doctorate degree in Organization Change from Pepperdine University (USA). 

In Episode 25, Patrick speaks with Aleks Kissinger of Oxford University.The team discuss the visualization of Quantum processes, how to teach Quantum, ZX-calculus, and Quantum key distribution.To hear more from Alex, please read his book, Picturing Quantum Processes A First Course in Quantum Theory and Diagrammatic Reasoning at https://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/physics/quantum-physics-quantum-information-and-quantum-computation/picturing-quantum-processes-first-course-quantum-theory-and-diagrammatic-reasoning?format=HB&isbn=9781107104228 Aleks Kissinger has been an Associate Professor of Quantum Computing in Oxford’s Computer Science Department since Autumn 2019. Before that, he was an Assistant Professor of Quantum Structures and Logic at Radboud University in Nijmegen. He is the co-author of Picturing Quantum Processes (a.k.a. "The Dodo Book"), which teaches quantum theory from scratch using a new style of mathematics based entirely on diagrams. His research lies in the area of "quantum software", namely making the code that runs on quantum computers more correct, more practical, and faster.