CQT Scientists in Top 10 Asian-Pacific Innovators for 2019: Quantum Satellite + Machine Learning Specializations
(QuantumLah) Two scientists from the Centre for Quantum Technologies were named among their top ten Innovators Under 35 in Asia Pacific for 2019 by MIT Technology Review. The two are Robert Bedington, who leads a team of quantum-satellite builders and CQT alumnus Nana Liu, who recently took up a faculty position in China. These two researchers are among ten shortlisted from almost 200 nominees across Australia, Cambodia, Hong Kong SAR, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, and Vietnam.
Bedington’s background is in space technology; he worked at the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency before joining CQT. He is now working on SpooQy-1, a nanosatellite the CQT team will launch in 2019 to demonstrate quantum entanglement in space. The group has this year begun a collaboration with RAL Space in the UK that will lead to the next generation of satellites, for doing secure quantum communication between orbit and ground. Seeing the commercial potential in this technology, Bedington plans to move into a CQT spin-off in the year ahead. He will take up the position of Chief Technology Officer for S15 Space Systems, a startup that aims to build a constellation of satellites for quantum key distribution (QKD).
Nana was based in the Singapore University of Technology and Design with the group of CQT Principal Investigator Joseph Fitzsimons until September 2018 as a Postdoctoral Fellow. Her research lies at the interface between quantum computing, security and machine learning, which will be useful in building a future quantum internet. She is now an Assistant Professor at the John Hopcroft Center for Computer Science, Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
