Panelists

Dr. Marlou Slot is a Research Associate in Quantum Sensing & Materials at CU Boulder and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Her research ranges from novel electronic quantum matter to chip-scale atomic clocks. To train the global quantum workforce and bring more talented women to this domain, Marlou leads the quantum team at Womanium, a DC-based foundation creating the next scientific leaders. The annual Global Quantum Program brings together 60+ industry, government and academic partners to train 2000+ people yearly, including 45% women, in quantum technologies.

Chen Wang is currently an associate professor in the Department of Physics at University of Massachusetts, Amherst.  His research focuses on new avenues to protect and to operate superconducting qubits for quantum computing.  Chen graduated from Peking University in 2006 with a B.S. in physics and Cornell University in 2012 with a Ph.D. in physics.  He worked at Yale as a postdoctoral associate before moving to UMass in 2016.  Chen is a recipient of the DOE Early Career Award and Young Investigator Awards from AROSR and ARO.  

Layla Hormozi is a staff scientist and Quantum Computing group leader at the Computational Science Initiative at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Prior to joining BNL she was a researcher at IQC at the University of Waterloo, a researcher at MIT, a Marie Curie fellow at the National University of Ireland and a National Research Council research associate at the NIST/UMD Joint Quantum institute (JQI). She received her BSc from Sharif University of Technology and her PhD in Physics from Florida State University. Her primary research interest is the physics of quantum computers, their limitations and their applications. Her research experience includes topological quantum computation, quantum simulation, and quantum error correction. 

Christopher Bishop is a technology futurist, TEDx speaker and former IBMer. He has emceed and moderated panels at numerous quantum technology conferences including The Economist’s “Commercializing quantum” events in London and Silicon Valley, as well as Quantum.Tech sponsored events in London, Singapore, Paris, and Washington, D.C. He was also the Chairperson for the Quantum Innovation Summit held in Dubai earlier this year.

Chris has hosted the Quantum Tech Pod series for the past three years, interviewing over 75 C-suite executives at leading quantum companies. He recently started a new podcast series, Qubit Confidential, for Alpha Events. 

Chris is also a member of the Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C) and contributes to the Workforce Technology Advisory Committee. Once a month, he hosts Office Hours, a Zoom meeting connecting students studying quantum subjects with mentors working in the private sector or at national labs.

Francesco obtained his BSc in materials engineering from Politecnico di Torino (Italy) in 2015, his MSc in physics at Université Grenoble Alpes (France) in 2017 (where he was also admitted to and completed the "Magistère de Physique" - excellence track in physics), and his Ph.D. at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany) in 2021, where he worked in the group of Prof. Ioan Pop. His research interests include the design, fabrication and characterization of microwave devices for quantum information and radioastronomy, and the diagnostics and abatement of quasiparticle poisoning in superconducting circuits. Since 2022 he works at IBM quantum and lives in New York City, spending his free time immersed in its rich art scene.