Michael J. Biercuk

Michael J. Biercuk is Professor of Quantum Physics and Quantum technology at the University of Sydney,[1] and the CEO and Founder of Q-CTRL, a venture-capital-backed quantum technology company. In his academic role he is a Chief Investigator in the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems.[2]

Michael J. Biercuk
Alma materUniversity of Pennsylvania
Harvard University
AwardsEureka Prize
Scientific career
FieldsQuantum physics
Quantum technology
InstitutionsUniversity of Sydney

He held a research fellowship in the Ion Storage Group at NIST, Boulder and has served as a full-time technical consultant to DARPA, helping to steer government investments in quantum information advanced computer architectures. Biercuk is a TEDx speaking alumnus,[3] winner of the 2015 Australian Museum Eureka Prize for Outstanding Early Career Researcher[4] and the 2011 NMI prize for excellence in measurement science.[5]

Education

Biercuk was educated in the United States of America, earning his undergraduate degree in Physics from the University of Pennsylvania, and his Master’s and Doctorate degrees from Harvard University.[6]

Career and research

Current activities

Biercuk’s research is focused on a field called quantum control – learning how to put exotic systems obeying the laws of quantum physics to work for the creation of new technologies. He is an experimentalist, developing and testing new quantum control techniques using quantum computing hardware built from trapped atomic ions.

As the Director of the Quantum Control Laboratory at the University of Sydney’s Nanoscience Hub, Biercuk is using tools such as superposition (single particles in two states at once) and entanglement (two particles inextricably linked at a distance) in control and measurement technology.[7][8] His team is funded by US Agencies IARPA and the U.S. Army Research Office, as well as the Australian Research Council.[9]

In 2017 Biercuk launched, Q-CTRL, a company provide solutions to stabilise quantum technologies, and the first spin-off company from the University of Sydney’s Quantum Science Group. Biercuk is the CEO of Q-CTRL.[10][11]

Q-CTRL has attracted investments from firms including Main Sequence Ventures, Sequoia Capital and other venture capital firms.[12] In April 2018, Q-CTRL was named as the only emerging company outside of the US and Canada to be included in IBM's hand-picked network of companies working to advance quantum computing and explore practical applications in business and science.[13] In December 2018, Q-CTRL launched its first product, Black Opal, to the market.[14] The software brings a friendly user interface to the quantum domain, delivered via a hardware-agnostic SaaS model.[15][16]

NIST Boulder

From 2010 to 2018 Biercuk was a research fellow in the Storage Group at NIST, Boulder, working with 2012 Nobel Laureate Dr David J. Wineland.[17] Biercuk’s research focused on quantum control and quantum simulation in a Penning Ion Trap.

DARPA

From 2005-2008 Biercuk served as a full-time technical consultant to DARPA. At DARPA, he advised on strategic technological investments in quantum technology and advanced microprocessor architecture.[18] While at DARPA, Biercuk contributed to an effort aimed at the realization of novel computer architectures enabled by high-bandwidth, low-power, on-chip photonic networks. This work gave rise to two DARPA programs led by Dr. Jagdeep Shah, UNIC and APS, both aiming to enable radically new processor architectures and capabilities by restoring a balance in system-level computational throughput and on/off-chip communications bandwidth.

Recognitions and awards

References
  1. "Professor Michael Biercuk". The University of Sydney.
  2. "Prof. Michael Biercuk". ARC Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems.
  3. "Michael J. Biercuk". TEDxSydney.
  4. "Eureka moment for quantum computing". The Australian. 26 August 2015.
  5. "Young Physicist Awarded NMI Prize". The University of Sydney.
  6. "The Collector's View: WatchTalk with Michael Biercuk -". DEPLOYANT. 5 November 2018.
  7. "Australia's first facility built for nanoscience launched, world-leading". Special Broadcasting Service.
  8. Strom, Marcus (8 March 2016). "Sydney University to open Nanoscience Hub for the quantum technologies of the future". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  9. Strom, Marcus (3 May 2016). "US intelligence awards multimillion dollar grant to Sydney University quantum science lab". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  10. "Quantum start-up Q-Ctrl "unmixing the soup" of qubit decoherence". Computerworld.
  11. "Sequoia Capital backs Q-Ctrl, the Australian quantum computing start-up". Australian Financial Review. 9 July 2018.
  12. "Sequoia Capital backs Q-CTRL, the Australian quantum computing start-up". Australian Financial Review. 9 July 2018.
  13. "Aussie start-up Q-CTRL handpicked by IBM to join world-leading quantum network". Australian Financial Review. 5 April 2018.
  14. Koehn, Emma (4 December 2018). "Quantum leap: Sydney startup launches world-first software product". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  15. "Q-CTRL's Black Opal offers quantum leap in computing". The Australian.
  16. "Australia races towards commercial quantum computing". Computer Weekly.
  17. Palmer, Charis (2007). "Influential mentor wins overdue recognition with Nobel Prize in Physics". The Conversation.
  18. "Science gets measure of the tiny". The Australian. 4 September 2011.
  19. "Getting the measure of awards". The Australian. 5 September 2011.
  20. Rolfe, Dominic (29 November 2012). "Top 100: the thinkers". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  21. "10 experiments". BBC Focus. 9 November 2017. Archived from the original on 9 November 2017.
  22. "Eureka Prize honours quantum computing pioneers". ABC News. 27 August 2015.
  23. "2015 Australia Museum Eureka Prizes". Australian Research Council.
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