Quantum Materials; Innovations and Commercialization Prospects

Featured Speakers:

Dr. Adina Luican-Mayer (Professor, Director) NSERC Training Program Materials for Quantum Technologies (MaQTech), University of Ottawa

Adina Luican-Mayer: Professor Adina Luican-Mayer is an Associate Professor of the Physics Department at the University of Ottawa. She received her PhD in Physics from Rutgers University (2012). Prior to joining uOttawa, she was the Alexei Abrikosov distinguished postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Nanoscale Materials at Argonne National Laboratory. She is the recipient of uOttawa Faculty of Science Early Career Researcher of the year (2020), Ontario Early Researcher Award (2021) and she is a CIFAR Fellow of the Quantum Materials program (2023). She leads the NSERC Training Program Materials for Quantum Technologies (MaQTech) as well as the NSERC Alliance Quantum Consortium “Programmable Quantum Simulators based on 2D Materials” (PQS2D).

Dr. Louis Taillefer — Professor, University of Sherbrooke; Co-Director, CIFAR Quantum Materials Program

Louis Taillefer: Louis Taillefer is a Professor of Physics at the Université de Sherbrooke, in Québec, Canada, where he leads a research group specialized in the experimental investigation of quantum materials –such as superconductors and metals with strongly correlated electrons – at very low temperature and in high magnetic fields. He has received a number of awards, including the Killam Prize in natural sciences (2012), the Simon Memorial Prize in low-temperature physics (2017) and the Kamerlingh Onnes Prize in superconductivity (2018), for pioneering experimental work in superconductivity, in particular the discovery of multicomponent superconductivity, quantum oscillations and quantum critical points in heavy-fermion and copper-oxide superconductors. In 2021, he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society.

Dr. Andrea Damascelli (Professor, Scientific Director): Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute (QMI), University of British Columbia

Andrea Damascelli: Professor Andrea Damascelli is the Scientific Director of the University of British Columbia’s Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute (QMI), a Professor at UBC’s Department of Physics & Astronomy, a Tier I Canada Research Chair in the Electronic Structure of Quantum Materials, and the co-Director of the Max Planck-UBC-UTokyo Centre for Quantum Materials. As QMI’s Scientific Director, Andrea led UBC’s effort resulting in the $66.5 million award from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund for Quantum Materials and Future Technologies. With more than 150 papers published, more than 19,000 citations, and an h-index of 59 (Google Scholar), Andrea’s work on quantum materials has gained global recognition and helped position Canada as a leader in the field of photoelectron spectroscopy.

Dr. Nathan Nelson-Fitzpatrick (Director): Quantum-Nano Fabrication and Characterization Facility (QNFCF), University of Waterloo

Nathan Nelson-Fitzpatrick: Dr. Nathan Nelson-Fitzpatrick serves as the Director of the Quantum-Nano Fabrication and Characterization Facility (QNFCF) at the University of Waterloo. His association with the QNFCF began in 2012, initially contributing as a process engineer during the concluding construction stages of the facility’s principal cleanroom within the Quantum-Nano Centre. Over the years, Dr. Nelson-Fitzpatrick has fulfilled various roles in process engineering, culminating in his appointment as the Director of the lab in 2022. Under his leadership, the QNFCF has evolved into a pivotal research platform, offering access to an extensive array of over 100 scientific fabrication and characterization instruments spread across several laboratories. Annually, the facility accommodates over 230 unique users, supporting a wide range of innovative research activities.