Industry Panel Discussion: Australia's Quantum Readiness

Chris Vale is the Director of the Quantum Technologies Future Science Platform at CSIRO and a Professor of Physics. His current work focusses on the development and adoption of quantum technologies across a range of industry sectors. Prior to joining CSIRO he led an experimental research program at Swinburne University of Technology using gases of ultracold atoms to study complex quantum systems. Prof Vale has been a Chief Investigator in two ARC Centres of Excellence and held an ARC Future Fellowship. He has also worked at the University of Queensland, the University of Sussex and Imperial College (UK).

Dr. Pascal Jahan Elahi is a high-performance and quantum computing expert, leading the quantum supercomputing research group at the Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre. Pascal received his PhD in computational astrophysics after which he held several postdoctoral research positions.

Pascal’s current focus is at the intersection of Quantum Computing and Supercomputing, looking to integrate these technologies and grow the Quantum Computing community in Australia. His team are assisting the Australian research quantum computing community by providing access to quantum computers, training in the use of HPC systems and are heavily involved in growing this ecosystem by bridging the gap between quantum computing experts and researchers in other scientific domains.

Pascal is a strong advocate for diversifying the HPC community and a passionate STEM educator. He has developed and delivered training material for researchers using HPC, introductory quantum computing for researchers and primary and high school students to get them excited about STEM.

Dr Nadia Court is the inaugural Director of the Semiconductor Sector Service Bureau (S3B). Until recently, Nadia was the Technical Director of the Research and Prototype Foundry, the University of Sydney’s micro- and nano-fabrication facility and the Sydney Hub of the NSW Node of the Australian National Fabrication Facility (ANFF). Nadia has worked in various roles with ANFF since 2012, both at UNSW and the University of Sydney. Prior to this Nadia spent several years working in the UK on printed electronics and optical communication technologies for the defence industry.