CSPS Digital Academy Events/A New Approach to Harnessing the Potential of Quantum Computing - Speaker Biographies

Date and time: February 16, 2022 | 12:30 pm to 3:15 pm (ET)

Event Program

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Speaker Biographies

	Philippe Lamontagne (Master of Ceremonies) Research Officer, Cyber Security Team, National Research Council Canada Philippe Lamontagne is a research officer in the cyber security team of the National Research Council. He received his PhD from Université de Montréal in 2018. His areas of expertise are cryptography and quantum information. He studies the use of quantum information for cryptographic tasks from lesser assumptions and the provable security of cryptographic protocols against quantum adversaries. He also has interest in the security of classical cryptography against quantum adversaries, also known as post-quantum cryptography, and in cryptographic solutions to privacy.
	Joel David Martin Chief Digital Research Officer, National Research Council of Canada Dr. Joel Martin is the Chief Digital Research Officer of the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), overseeing the Digital Technologies Research Centre. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science, Machine Learning, from the Georgia Institute of Technology and completed post-doctoral studies at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Martin has received awards for exceptional leadership and for innovative approaches to technology transfer. He has published dozens of peer-reviewed research articles and taught Computer Science courses at both the University of Ottawa and Carleton University. Since joining the NRC in 1994, he has been a researcher and served in multiple leadership roles in the Digital Technologies Research Centre, including Director General, Senior Director, Director of Research and Development, Program Lead of the Multimedia Analytic Tools for Security program, Team Leader, and project lead. His strategic leadership has resulted in an increase in the impact of digital technology research at the NRC and beyond, including advances and applications in data science and analytics, quantum computing, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, machine translation, computer vision and graphics, cybersecurity, human-computer interfaces, natural language processing, medical and bioinformatics, and the Internet of Things (IoT). For example, under his leadership, the Research Centre has been successful in introducing digital technologies to detect disease outbreaks, some of which are now used worldwide, and digital technologies that promote Indigenous languages in Canada. In addition, Dr. Martin has established research and development programs drawing interest and collaboration from universities and other government departments. These initiatives include the NRC's Data Analytics Centre, the Multimedia Analytic Tools for Security program, and the AI for Design Challenge program. They have increased both scientific output and impact of the NRC's Digital Technologies Research Centre to Canada and Canadians.
	Olivia Di Matteo Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of British Columbia Olivia Di Matteo joined the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at UBC as an Assistant Professor in January 2022. She obtained her PhD at the University of Waterloo and Institute for Quantum Computing in 2019 in Physics (Quantum Information). Following her PhD, she worked as a Quantum Information Science Associate at TRIUMF, and subsequently as a Quantum Computing Educator and Researcher at the Toronto-based quantum startup Xanadu. Her research interests in quantum computing include compilation, circuits and algorithms; tomography and characterization; open-source quantum software; and education
	Barry Sanders Vice President, Product Management, D-Wave Systems Inc. Professor Barry Sanders is Director of the University of Calgary’s Institute for Quantum Science and Technology, Scientific Director of Calgary’s “Quantum City”, and Lead Investigator of Quantum Alberta. His Doctor of Philosophy (1988) and Doctor of Science (2018) are from Imperial College London, and his research spans quantum science and technology, including quantum sensing, quantum computing, and quantum communication. Sanders holds distinguished visiting positions at the University of Science and Technology of China and at the Raman Research Institute in India, and he is a Scientist/Mentor with the Creative Destruction Lab branches at the Universities of Toronto and Calgary. He is former Editor-in-Chief of New Journal of Physics and is currently Chair of the NanoCanada Board of Directors. His accomplishments are recognized through Fellowships of the Royal Society of Canada, the United Kingdom Institute of Physics, the American Physical Society, and Optica.
	Murray Thom Vice President, Product Management, D-Wave Systems Inc. Murray Thom is Vice President of Product Management at D-Wave, with nearly 20 years of experience in the quantum computing industry. In previous roles at D-Wave he was responsible for the development and delivery of the Leap quantum cloud service and the Ocean open source tools. He has led teams engaged in customer projects related to algorithms, applications, and performance testing. He has even assembled a few early quantum computers by hand.
	Neil Bouwer Vice-President, Innovation and Policy Services Branch, Canada School of Public Service Neil Bouwer has also served as an Assistant Deputy Minister at the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Natural Resources Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, and the Privy Council Office of Canada; and in executive positions at the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, Human Resources and Social Development Canada and the Business Development Bank of Canada. He has also worked at the Department of Finance and Western Economic Diversification Canada, and has Economics degrees from McGill University and St. Thomas University. Neil actively supports the Government of Canada policy and data communities, the Advanced Policy Analyst Program and the Free Agent HR Program.