Dr. Nadia Carlsten is VP of Product at Sandbox AQ, where she is responsible for managing product development across the company’s quantum security, quantum sensing, and simulation & optimization efforts. Nadia has extensive experience turning emerging technologies into products. Previously she was Head of Product at the AWS Center for Quantum Computing where she helped define the strategy for quantum hardware and helped launch Amazon Braket, AWS’s quantum computing service. Nadia has also led commercialization activities at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and successfully brought new technologies to market in the areas of cybersecurity and machine learning. Nadia has a PhD in engineering from UC Berkeley.

Dr. Thierry Botter is Executive Director of the European Quantum Industry Consortium (QuIC). He joined the association from Airbus where he was deputy-Chief of the Central Research & Technology (CRT) organization and head of Airbus Blue Sky, a research department within CRT dedicated to emerging, transformative technologies. He also served as a member of the first strategic advisory board for the European Commission’s Quantum Technologies Flagship. Dr. Botter holds a PhD in physics from the University of California, Berkeley, and Master’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is one of the Advisory Board members of QIA.

Dr. Boucher graduated from Ecole Polytechnique and Imperial College, was awarded a Ph.D. from Sorbonne Université and worked as a post-doctoral researcher in forefront laboratories (LKB, INRIM) as well as innovative companies, specializing in classical and quantum optics. As a Physicist Associate she brings her scientific expertise to the portfolio companies and keeps Quantonation at the forefront of the scientific developments of Quantum Technologies.

Jes Broeng is serial high-tech entrepreneur, professor and director of DTU Entrepreneurship. He has a Ph.D. from DTU and has co-authored more than 250 scientific publications (h-index 50, +12.000 citations) and holds 22 patents.

He has extensive experience in basic and applied research, business development, high-tech sales (US, Europe, and Asia), IPR and licensing, and early stage investments. Jes is co-founder of six companies: Crystal Fibre (now NKT Photonics), Norlase, Bifrost Communications, Aqubiq, OSAA Innovation and OptoCeutics. He is an active board member and angel investor. Since 2017, he has headed the national initiative “Open Entrepreneurship” in a collaboration between seven Danish universities for improved tech transfer models (funded by the Danish Industry Foundation).

Jes has been invited as a visiting professor at UC Berkeley (2016-17) and collaborates with the CITRIS organization (Health initiative) and the Sutardja Center of Entrepreneurship. For the European Commission, Bruxelles, he serves in an expert group on strengthening the management of the enhanced European Innovation Council. He is also a member of the The Danish Council for Research and Innovation Policy (DFiR) that is charged with the responsibility of providing the Minister of Higher Education and Science and others with independent and expert advice on research, technological development and innovation at system level.

He is a Fellow of SPIE (the international society for optics and photonics) and a member of the Danish Academy of Technical Sciences. He was awarded the European Optics Prize in 1999 and DTU’s Innovation Award in 2016.

Are Magnus Bruaset is Research Director at Simula Research Laboratory in Norway, where he also leads the national research infrastructure for experimental HPC research, the Experimental Infrastructure for Exploration of Exascale Computing (eX3). He is also a member of EuroHPC’s Research and Innovation Advisory Group (RIAG), including RIAG’s working group on quantum compiuting. During his service at Simula, he has been instrumental to the establishment and operation of several strategic initiatives in research and education, such as a transatlantic PhD program between Norway and the US and large-scale, long-term research collaborations with high-profiled industry. His scientific expertise is in applied mathematics with emphasis on numerical solution of physics-based models, and in particular the realization of such modeling tools in terms of flexible and efficient software. Bruaset’s work has to a considerable extent taken place the interface between research and industry, and he has held leading positions in two research-based, commercial companies as CTO and CEO, respectively.

Founder of Quantware, aiming at accelerating the advent of quantum advantage with accessible and scalable superconducting quantum hardware.

Vishal is the co-founder and CEO at QuantrolOx, an Anglo-Finnish spinout from Oxford University using machine learning for automated characterisation and tuning of qubits. Vishal is a serial deep-tech entrepreneur. Previously he was the CEO and co-founder of Secondmind (previously known as PROWLER.io), an AI company. Vishal’s work experience spans fundamental research, manufacturing, operations, R&D, product management, corporate strategy and business development. Vishal was previously Head of Automotive at Nokia, Founder of Chleon Automotive and Chief Business Officer of VocalIQ, which was acquired by Apple in 2015. Vishal is passionate supporter of entrepreneurship and is an advisor to several startups. He has moved countries 11 times, lived in 15 cities from the Equator to the Arctic.

David DiVincenzo was one of the first physical scientists to engage in quantum information research. His name is associated with the development of criteria for the physical implementation of a quantum computer, known as the DiVincenzo Criteria. As part of the Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA), DiVincenzo is the head of the Institute of Quantum Information at RWTH Aachen University; he is also head of the Institute of Nanoelectronics at the Forschungszentrum Jülich. His PhD was in Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania; after a postdoc at Cornell, he was a Research Staff Member and Research Manager at IBM TJ Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York, for 25 years. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, Associate Editor of the Reviews of Modern Physics, and von Humboldt Professor.

Basil Garabet is the President and CEO of NKT Photonics which he has successfully grown since 2015.

Basil is a serial entrepreneur with a 38-year tenure in Photonics where he has started, led and turned round a number of International Photonics companies. Basil’s career has spanned leading positions in JK Lasers, EM4, Altitun, Melles Griot and Lasertron.

Basil is closely involved in promoting Photonics globally, especially research in new applications such as Quantum, and performs numerous honorary duties including Board seats on EPIC, Bifrost Communication, and the Danish Quantum Community.

Laura García-Álvarez has a Ph.D. in Physics and has worked as a researcher at Chalmers and the Wallenberg Centre for Quantum Technology (WACQT) since 2018. Her work explores the limits of near-term quantum computers for optimization problems. She is interested in answering whether current noisy quantum processors can yield any speedup compared to classical computers.

Prof. Granqvist is an expert on how new markets and industries emerge and develop. Her studies on nanotechnology have been awarded with key prizes in the field of management. During the past years she has led a major research project studying the drivers for market formation around quantum computing. She has unique insight e. g. on the competition between different quantum computing platforms, strategies of the various stakeholders, timing and expectations in quantum computing, and communication of quantum phenomena. Prior to her career in academia, she worked as a consultant at Accenture.

Salil Gunashekar is a Senior Research Leader and Deputy Director of Science and Emerging Technology at RAND Europe, a not-for-profit, nonpartisan policy research organisation and the European arm of the RAND Corporation. With over a decade of experience of working in public policy research, he has a particular interest in exploring the impact of digitalisation and emerging technologies, and in examining research and innovation systems. Salil has led studies for several public, private and third sector clients across the globe. His projects cut across multiple sectors and he has widely published policy research on topics including a range of emerging technologies (including quantum technology, artificial intelligence, extended reality, robotics, blockchain, IoT and online platforms), technology foresight, digital skills, technology oversight, public engagement, and wider R&I policy (including funding strategies, research impact, and open science).

Dr. Ulrich Busk Hoff is a Senior Adviser in quantum technology at the Department of Physics, Technical University of Denmark. He obtained his PhD in physics from the Technical University of Denmark (2015) where he is currently a senior staff of the Danish National Research Foundation center of excellence Center for Macroscopic Quantum States (bigQ) at DTU. He is a researcher in the field of quantum cavity optomechanics and part of the management team of several national quantum innovation projects on quantum key distribution and photonic quantum computing. Ulrich is deeply engaged in the formation of a Danish quantum ecosystem and is a board member of the Danish Quantum Community. In addition, he is a very active and dedicated science communicator and co-author of several children’s books and graphic novels on various scientific topics.

Bharath is the CEO and Co-Founder of Atlantic Quantum, a startup developing scalable quantum computers. He received his PhD from MIT as a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellow, where his work primarily focused on the development of new architectures for communicating between quantum processors as well as novel gates for the fast control of low-frequency qubits. Bharath received his B.S. in Physics from Rutgers University in 2016 and his M.S. and PhD in Electrical Engineering and computer science from MIT in 2018 and 2022, respectively.

Gopal Karemore is a director at the digital research & intelligence wing of Novo Nordisk A/S in Denmark. He has PhD in computer science from Univ. of Copenhagen with 14+ years of experience in data science, statistics, modelling, machine learning, visualisation, and quantum computing within early research, preclinical, and clinical pharmaceutical settings. He co-authored 35+ research articles published in high-impact scientific journals, e.g. Nature, iScience, IEEE, and was involved in shaping strategic initiatives and business development within pharmaceutical R&D processes. Before Novo Nordisk, he worked with various industries such as Philips, GE research, Siemens Corporate Research, University of Pennsylvania, Spanish National Center for Cardiovascular Research and Novo Nordisk Foundation Centers for Protein Research & Stem Cell Biology.

Michael completed his PhD in quantum information physics in 2012 from the Niels Bohr Institute. He subsequently worked as a postdoc in Berlin, and an assistant professor at the institute for theoretical physics in Cologne.

He subsequently joined the quantum computing team at AWS, where he worked on algorithms and industry applications, before returning to Copenhagen as an associate professor in computer science at ITU.

Michael’s main research interests include tensor networks algorithms for simulation and efficient AI, as well as quantum error correction and fault-tolerant algorithms.

Outi Keski-Äijö is currently the Head of Quantum Computing in Business Finland. The funding budget of the program is 15 M€ for 2023-2024. Currently, 30+ companies and five research organizations are participating in Quantum Computing program.

Outi Keski-Äijö has 30 years of experience in ICT, change leadership and innovation management. Previously, she was the Head of AI Business Program in Business Finland in 2018-2021. She has also been responsible for change programs in Nokia Corporation, Nokia Siemens Networks, Okmetic Ltd and Tekes (Finnish Innovation Agency).

Outi Keski-Äijö has deep understanding of challenges of start-ups and growth companies as she has coached 200+ Finnish SMEs in their innovations, growth and internationalization.

Outi Keski-Äijö has MSc degrees from Lappeenranta University of Technology (now LUT University) and the University of Nottingham.

Ilyas founded Cambridge Quantum in 2014 and was the founding CEO of Quantinuum, the company created as a result of the merger of Honeywell Quantum Solutions and Cambridge Quantum. As well as being Vice-Chairman of the board of directors, he is also the Chief Product Officer of Quantinuum and part of the executive leadership team of the company. He is the Leader in Residence at the University of Cambridge’s Judge Business School where he was instrumental in establishing the highly regarded Accelerate Cambridge program of investment in early-stage Cambridge-based deep-science technology sector companies. Ilyas was the inaugural Chairman of The Stephen Hawking Foundation, holding the post until 2019. He is also the founding Chairman (non-executive) of the Topos Institute. He is also a fellow of St Edmund’s College, Cambridge. Ilyas is recognised as one of the founders and leading voices in the quantum computing industry globally.

Morten is a Villum Young Investigator and his work is focused on superconducting quantum information physics and devices. Prior to his current position as Associate Professor at Niels Bohr Institute he was a Carlsberg International Postdoctoral Fellow in the Engineering Quantum Systems group of Prof. Will Oliver at MIT.

Dr. Katrin Kobe is the CEO of the internal start-up “Bosch Quantum Sensing” and holds a PhD in physics and has over 30 years of experience with technology companies. She worked as a top management consultant at McKinsey and more than 20 years in operational top management positions. She has international experience and was responsible for subsidiaries in Eastern Europe and China.

Her industry experience includes plant and mechanical engineering, automotive, sensor technology, medical technology and energy. She is a specialist for product strategies, business model innovations and high-value
technology products.

Peter is full professor in Physics at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. He is heading the newly established Novo Nordisk Foundation (NNF) Quantum Computing programme as executive director which comprise of two closely connected organizations: the university based NQCP with headquarter located at NBI, and the NNF owned partner company ‘Quantum Foundry P/S’ that has a focus on developing Quantum processors manufacturing capabilities. Peter came from back to NBI after 6 years at Microsoft where he established the succesful quantum material laboratory at the Microsoft Development Center in Lyngby, Copenhagen, Denmark, where he is still affiliated as an advisor. He has been innovating and driving the development of novel in-situ fabrication methods for quantum computing devices using ultra-high vacuum tools, and has strong focus on work force development, innovation and quantum technology development in general.

Jonatan Kutchinsky co-founded QDevil in 2016, which became part of Quantum Machines in 2022, working on all aspects of full-stack quantum computers except the quantum processing unit (QPU) and the refrigeration. This includes cryogenic chip carriers, high precision/high speed control electronics, and integration into high-performance computing (HPC) systems. Jonatan has a Ph.D. in Quantum Physics and has worked as a serial deep-tech entrepreneur for more than 20 years.

Dr. Valtteri Lahtinen is the Chief Scientific Officer at Quanscient. In academia, he has held appointments in Tampere and at Aalto University. Over the years, he has been a visiting researcher at the University of Montreal, Boston University, and the University of Bologna. His research interests and output span from quantum computing to computational electromagnetics and applied mathematics. At Quanscient, he is building a simulation platform of tomorrow powered by cloud and quantum computing.

Dr. Janne Lehtinen is chief science officer of SemiQon. Before co-founding SemiQon, he was a research team leader at VTT, leading a team called Quantum sensors, which had 17 researchers. He did his Ph.D. 2014 in University of Jyväskylä about quantum fluctuations in superconducting nanowires. He is expert in both semiconducting and superconducting quantum devices with more than 10 years of experience from advanced fabrication and cryogenic measurements. He has been in leading roles in several national, European and commercial research projects. He has published more than 30 peer-reviewed publications and has several patents and patent filings.

Cathal J. Mahon is a technology expert with extensive experience as an investment manager for venture capital funds specializing in high-tech start-ups – including quantum – and, prior to this, from a variety of managerial and R&D positions in the telecommunications industry. Since 2016, he has been exclusively involved in the development of the commercial potential of quantum technologies, either as interim CEO at Qubiz: Quantum Innovation Center in Denmark, or as Senior Executive Advisor responsible for the commercialization of quantum technology-based intellectual property created at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. In his current role at the Novo Nordisk Foundation, he is responsible for the establishment of an Accelerator in Copenhagen for start-ups and spin-outs within the quantum technology space, and which will also be affiliated with the DIANA Center for Quantum Technologies in Denmark.

Cathal J. Mahon has a scientific background in both engineering and physics holding a M.Sc. in physics from Trinity College, Dublin, and a Ph.D. in electronic engineering from the Technical University of Denmark. He also holds a graduate diploma in Business Administration from Copenhagen Business School – where he has been an external lecturer – and is the author of a textbook on the emergence of strategy in organizations.

Himadri Majumdar is the CEO and co-founder of SemiQon, a spin-off from VTT in Finland. SemiQon builds silicon-based quantum processors for the million-qubit era. SemiQon operates out of the Otanano/Micronova pilot microelectronics fabrication centre in Espoo, Finland. Prior to founding SemiQon he was the Program Manager for Quantum Technologies at VTT. In his role he helped companies in quantum technology domain – especially fabless start-ups – to utilize VTT’s R&D expertise and infrastructure in quantum technologies. Himadri was also a founding member of the Finnish Quantum technologies ecosystem, InstituteQ, and led the business arm of the ecosystem, BusinessQ. His ambition is to see Quantum technology becoming a Finnish and European success story and make the European quantum ecosystem grow even stronger through cooperation within various European initiatives in the sphere. Himadri has 20 years of experience in innovation and innovation management and is also trained as an experimental physicist.

Herbert Mangesius is a founding partner of the deeptech investments firm Vsquared Ventures. Previously he was a researcher at leading European labs in Paris, Louvain, and Munich at the intersection of engineering sciences, physics, and cybernetics. Together with the WIRED Germany team, he co-founded the 1E9 tech magazine and think tank in Munich.

Sabrina is a Professor of Quantum Information, Computing and Logic at the University of Helsinki. She is CEO and co-founder of Algorithmiq Ltd, a startup focusing on quantum algorithms for Life Sciences. She has been working on Quantum Technology for over 20 years, focusing on noise in quantum devices, complex quantum systems and quantum simulations. Sabrina has coordinated several international and interdisciplinary projects and is recognized as one of the leading experts in Quantum Technologies.

Mikko Möttönen is one of the four founders of IQM Quantum Computers (www.meetiqm.com) and its chief scientist. IQM is a Pan-European category leader in quantum computers. IQM quantum computers are designed and built using superconducting quantum processors, enhanced by innovative co-design of software and hardware. In this way, the company aims to deliver quantum advantage for commercial applications.

Möttönen is a world-leading researcher in quantum information and a professor of quantum technology at Aalto University and VTT. He has published more than 120 scientific articles, including four articles in the top journals Nature and Science. His work has been cited more than 6,000 times. He graduated with a doctorate in technology in 2005 from the Department of Applied Physics at the Helsinki University of Technology.

Mikko Möttönen has distinguished himself in research in both theoretical and experimental quantum physics. Breakthroughs in research have enabled the commercialization of quantum computing and devices, such as spinout of IQM from his research laboratory. Recently, Möttönen obtained the Nokia Recognition award, the Väisälä Science Prize, the Innovation Professor Award, and an Honorary Doctorate.

Lene joined the Novo Nordisk Foundation in 2019 to lead activities in the Nat-Tech area covering the natural- and technical sciences, this including activities relating to quantum technologies. She has a background as a Professor of physics, Niels Bohr Institute (NBI) at Copenhagen
University (~20 years).

Lene is a physicist, trained also in mathematics. She is an experimentalist and at the Niels Bohr Institute she constructed the first optical tweezers manipulation facility in Scandinavia – the importance of this technology being recognized by the Nobel Prize in 2018. In particular, she is an expert in the interphase between quantum and the life sciences and is key designer of the Novo Nordisk Foundation Quantum Computing Programme and of the Quantum Foundry. She has been the leader of several interdisciplinary large-scale research projects, including being center leader of a Grundforskningsfond Center of Excellence. She has received several research prizes, e.g., the Danish Optical Society prize for young investigators, the Silver Medal of the Danish Royal Academy of Sciences and Letters, and the Elite Research Prize from the Danish Research Councils, the largest Danish public research prize. Lene Oddershede is a member of the Danish Academy of Technical Sciences, of the Danish Royal Academy of Sciences and Letters, and of the Global Future Council at the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Lise is General Partner at Vsquared Ventures, a pan-European deep tech focused fund. Lise has been in VC since 2015 – she co-founded the Norwegian deep tech fund Propagator Ventures after investment positions at Nordic Impact/Katapult and the CVC of a German media group. She also had an operative stint at Rocket Internet and holds a PhD in technology management from ETH Zurich.

After studying computer science at the Technical University of Munich, Andreas Rohnfelder held management positions in the fields of high-performance computing, global alliance management and Industry 4.0. In his current role as Head of Digital Incubation, he and his team focus on solving customer challenges based on technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain and quantum (inspired) computing.

Mikkel Skovborg is currently the SVP of Innovation at the Novo Nordisk Foundation. Mikkel has previously worked as an Executive Specialist at Novo Nordisk Fonden, a Research Attaché at the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Higher Education, Head of Development at DEA, and Chefkonsulent at Danmarks Erhvervsforskningsakademi. Mikkel began their career as a student assistant at the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Mikkel Skovborg has a MA in Political Science from Københavns Universitet – University of Copenhagen.

MSc from the Niels Bohr Institute, specialized in quantum sensing and atomic physics. During my PhD I have developed and calibrated a new kind of optical magnetometer for high magnetic fields. I have designed it specifically for use in MRI scanners, and the goal is to demonstrate that it can be used to improve the quality of MRI images. I have recently received an Innoexplorer grant to continue this research after my PhD with an aim to commercialize the technology.

Organization: Niels Bohr Institute (UCPH), and Danish Research Centre for Magnetic Resonance (Hvidovre Hospital)

I studied Biochemistry (M.Sc., 1991) and then Theoretical Physics (M.Sc., 1996) at the Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETHZ), where I also obtained my Ph.D. in 1999. In 2000, I received a Marie Curie Fellowship to work in the group of Prof. Michiel Sprik at Cambridge University (UK). I then moved back to Switzerland to join the group of Prof. Ursula Roethlisberger, first at ETHZ (2002–2003) and later at the École Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL, 2003-2014). In 2010, I earned the title of Maître d’Enseignement et de Recherche (MER) at EPFL. Finally in December 2014 I joined the IBM Research-Zurich laboratory in Rueschlikon, Swirzerland.

In the field of quantum-classical dynamics, I have developed and implemented in the CPMD software package a novel theoretical framework to combine electronic structure techniques based on density (DFT and TDDFT) with the calculation of nonadiabatic quantum and classical trajectories. My research interests in this field comprise adiabatic and nonadiabatic molecular dynamics (Ehrenfest dynamics, trajectory surface hopping, and Bohmian dynamics) for the study of photochemical and photo-physical processes in molecules, condensed phase, and biological systems.

More recently, I extended my research activities in the field of material design, focusing on the combination of ab-initio and machine learning techniques together with big-data analysis for the design of new materials with improved properties. This project is carried out within the swiss NCCR (National Centers of Competence in Research) project MARVEL.

In 2015, I also joined the quantum computing team at ZRL working on superconducting qubits architectures. My main focus is in the development of quantum algorithms for the simulation of fermionic systems (correlated electrons in molecules and solids) in both adiabatic and digital quantum computers.

My present position is “Global leader for advanced algorithms for quantum simulations” at IBM Research – Zurich.

With both industry and academic experience, Janus is well-experienced in quantum information processing and in applying advanced computing to business problems. Janus holds a Ph.D. from the University of Aarhus and has worked in quantum computing research at the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Oxford.