Program 2021

Miriam Meckel is founding publisher and Chief Executive Officer of ada. Since 2005 Miraiam has held a professorship in communication management at the University of St. Gallen, and was editor in chief and publisher of WirtschaftsWoche. She served one legislative period as government spokesperson and State Secretary for Media and International Affairs under the Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia, and she also worked as a consultant for the Brunswick Group for many years. During her time as a journalist and scientist she received the Cicero Speakers Prize in the science category, published numerous books, and was accepted engagements as a guest professor at Harvard University, Singapore Management University and the University of Vienna.

Léa Steinacker is founder and Chief Operations Officer of ada. Prior to 2018 she worked for Wirtschaftswoche, most recently as Chief Innovation Officer. In 2018 the american magazine Forbes named her one of the “Top 30 Under 30” managers in Europe’s media landscape, the same year she was one of the “Top 30 Under 30” journalists named by Medium Magazin. Raised in Germany, Australia and Wales, she studied at Princeton, Harvard and the American University in Cairo before writing her doctor’s thesis on the social impact of artificial intelligence systems at the University of St. Gallen.

Jessica Pointing is pursuing her PhD in Physics at the University of Oxford specializing in quantum computing, and previously was a PhD student in Computer Science at Stanford University as a Knight-Hennessy Scholar. She received her bachelor’s degree in Physics and Computer Science at Harvard University with high honors as a John Harvard Scholar, after being a bachelors student at MIT. Jessica was selected for Forbes 30 under 30 in Science and was selected to be a TEDx speaker. She was selected to be the council fellow for the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Quantum Applications. She has interned as a quantum researcher at KBR at NASA Ames Research Center, software engineer at Google, management consultant at McKinsey and Company, investment banker at Goldman Sachs, and strategist at Morgan Stanley. Jessica founded the Stanford Quantum Computing Association and the Harvard College Quantum Computing Association. She won the IBM Q Quantum Computing Award for winning, with a team, IBM’s first quantum computing hackathon. She was also a prize-winner at the Creative Destruction Lab quantum computing hackathon. She has been awarded the McKinsey Women’s Impact Award and has been named a Google Anita Borg Scholar.  She has also won scholarships from Microsoft, Palantir, Adobe Research, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Neo, Society of Women Engineers Scholar and Society of Geophysicists.

whurley is founder and CEO of Strangeworks, a quantum computing startup that makes the power of quantum computing easily accessible and available to all. He is an Eisenhower Fellow, Innovator in Residence for the Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship at the Sloan School of Management at MIT, A Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Chairman of the Quantum Computing Standards Workgroup at the IEEE, the first Ambassador to CERN and Society, a regular contributor to TechCrunch on the topic of Quantum Computing, and the co-author of “Quantum Computing For Babies”. Prior to starting Strangeworks he was a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs [NYSE: GS]. He came to Goldman Sachs via the acquisition of his second startup, Honest Dollar. Prior to Honest Dollar whurley founded Chaotic Moon Studios which was acquired by Accenture [NYSE: ACN].

Kimo Quaintance is ada’s Director of Learning & Community. He first worked with ada as an external consultant in 2019, and joined the team full-time in 2021. He has spent the past 10 years consulting on collective learning and technological change to clients such as Facebook, Microsoft, General Motors, Lufthansa, Siemens, the United States Army, and the Royal Opera House in London. He holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from the University of St Andrews in Scotland and has developed curriculum and lectured at the University of Denver, the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the University of the German Federal Armed Forces in Munich (Universität der Bundeswehr München), and the Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing.

Judith Gerlach (35), Member of the Bavarian State Parliament, chairs Germany’s first State Ministry for Digital Affairs since November 2018. At age 33, the law-school graduate was the youngest-ever appointee as a Bavarian cabinet minister, having become the youngest member ever elected to the Bavarian State Parliament as early as 2013. As State Minister, she is pulling all the strings of the Bavarian digital strategy. In addition to driving forward state-of-the-art technologies such as AI and Blockchain, Minister of State Judith Gerlach sees digital administration as an important element in making the state ready for the digital transformation.

Having graduated from University of St Andrews with Physics BSc (Hons), Emily now is studying Quantum Science and Technology in Munich, a joint program between TUM and LMU. Since beginning one year ago, Emily has also enjoyed pursuing her interests outside of studies. She is a Quantum Project Lead at Infineon in Supply Chain Innovations, and representative for the company within the QUTAC consortium. She is part of the MCQST office, with a large part of her role in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. She has also created an initiative with PushQuantum, a student-organised group, which is focussed on directing and supporting quantum technology to be an overall carbon negative endeavour.

Jan is a quantum physicist and co-founding CEO of IQM, building next-generation quantum computers. IQM has assembled an exceptional team of international quantum experts developing co-design quantum computers to tackle the hardest challenges of modern society. IQM’s breakthroughs include pioneering on-chip components for ultra-fast processors and hardware-efficient solutions for application-specific computers. IQM has raised more than EUR 71 million in funding, including the largest seed investment round in Finnish history. Jan did his doctorate on superconducting quantum circuits at the Technical University of Munich and worked as a Marie Curie Fellow in Helsinki at Aalto University, where he holds the title of docent. Capital magazine selected him as one of the 40 under 40 in Germany and he received the prestigious entrepreneurship award from the KAUTE Foundation. Jan is in the Board of the European Quantum Industry Consortium QuIC and the German Federal Economic Senate (Bundeswirtschaftssenat).

Dr. Karen Wintersperger received her PhD in physics from the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich after studying for a BSc and MSc in Göttingen, Uppsala and Munich. During her PhD, she was working on experimental quantum simulation using ultracold atoms in optical lattices. This platform offers the possibility to study solid-state systems otherwise inaccessible to theoretical  or experimental approaches by designing a synthetic quantum system. Her research was focused on the simulation of topological phases of matter which feature many interesting properties such as robustness against distortions and might even play an important role for quantum computing in the future. To bridge the gap between fundamental research and the application of quantum  science, she also graduated from Collège des ingénieurs in Paris with a master of business administration. Bringing together the business and science perspective, she is now up for new challenges and eager to further advance quantum technologies.

Check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UE7xcHM9jm8 to get to know more about quantum simulation.

Ralph Claessen, Physics professor, scientist and research manager, Julius-Maximilians-Universität of Würzburg (JMU), Germany
Ralph Claessen, Head of Chair for Experimental Physics at JMU Würzburg since 2004 and co-spokesperson of the Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat – Complexity and Topology in Quantum Matter. Established in 2019, ct.qmat links up JMU and Technische Universität Dresden as the leading German research alliance for topological quantum materials and is currently the only Cluster of Excellence that traverses federal state boundaries. More than 270 scientists from 34 countries and four continents perform research on topological quantum materials that reveal surprising phenomena under extreme conditions such as ultra-low temperature, high pressure, or strong magnetic field. Making these special properties usable under everyday conditions will be the basis for revolutionary quantum chips and new types of technical applications.

Ria Ingleby has been working in a variety of senior HR roles partnering with Commercial
Directors over the last 20 years. She has a deep interest and experience in the
development and growth of people, from graduates to leaders. Ria is the International
Engagement Manager at Headspace, a global leader in meditation and mindfulness.
Throughout those same 20 years, Ria committed her free time to develop in the health and
wellbeing space and is also a qualified C.H.E.K Holistic Health Coach and trained
mindfulness & meditation teacher. Her ability to combine her experience from the
corporate background in HR with Health and Wellbeing led her to lead and consult on
Wellbeing strategies and programs for several FTSE 100 companies at Board level.
Her role as Manager, International Engagement involves working with Headspace’s
business clients and partners to support them in building a community of health and
happiness.

She lives in the UK with her husband, daughter, and two dogs and also loves teaching
yoga, meditation, and is often spending time in nature.
Email : ria@headspace.com
Linkedin : https://www.linkedin.com/in/riaingleby/

Ria Ingleby – Mindfulness & Meditation Teacher at Headspace
Ria has spent the last twenty years developing her expertise in the health and wellbeing
space alongside her professional career in H.R. She has led and consulted on wellbeing
strategies and programs for several FTSE 100 companies at board level.
Ria has a deep interest and significant experience in the development and growth of
people, from graduates to leaders. As a qualified C.H.E.K Holistic Health Coach and
trained mindfulness & meditation teacher, Ria has been pivotal in supporting Headspace’s
business clients to transform their workplace communities into environments of health
and happiness.

Ria is passionate about the impact of mindfulness on her own recovery from cancer and
writes about this extensively on her blog. She lives in the UK with her husband, daughter,
and two dogs. Ria loves teaching yoga as well as meditation, and is often spending time in
nature.

Email : ria@headspace.com
Blog: https://riaingleby.com
Instagram @riaingleby

Dr. Jessica Esquivel is an Associate Scientist at Fermilab working on the Muon g-2 Experiment which recently announced it’s exciting Run 1 results, increasing the experiment/theory tension from 3.7σ to 4.2σ. She is one of ~100 Black women with a PhD in physics in the country, the 2nd black woman to graduate with a PhD in physics from Syracuse University, and the 3rd Black woman to hold an Associate Scientist position at Fermilab. Her graduate research focused on studying ghostly particles called neutrinos interacting in the MicroBooNE Experiment using innovative machine learning techniques. Dr. Esquivel is also a recognized advocate for creating just and equitable spaces in physics and focuses on the intersections of race, gender and sexuality in her community engagement efforts. She is a steering committee member of APS-IDEA, co-founder of BlackInPhysics, and part of the Change-Now collective. Dr. Esquivel was also selected as a AAAS IF/THEN Ambassador, and through her work as an ambassador, has appeared on CBS’s Emmy nominated educational program Mission Unstoppable where she discusses the physics behind makeup, and on the Science Channel’s How the niverse Works discussing how neutrinos could be the key to the mysteries of our universe. Dr. Esquivel is a Texas transplant living in Chicago with her wife and three furbabies, Treadaway, Georgie, and Daisy.

Kitty Yeung is a physicist, engineer, artist, fashion designer, maker and musician. She currently works as a Sr. Quantum Architect at Microsoft Quantum Systems. She’s the producer of Microsoft’s quantum learning materials, including the MS Learn quantum modules and the Quantum Learning website; author of comic series Quantum Computing & Some Physics; lecturer at HackadayU and Microsoft Reactor on Quantum Computing. To drive integration between science and art, she also founded a sustainable and STEAM fashion brand, Art by Physicist, and leads the Fashion Hack at Microsoft Prior, Kitty worked as a Manager and creative technologist of the Bay Area Microsoft Garage Program; UX Designer at Intel Maker Group; Research Scientist and Hardware Engineer at Intel Silicon Photonics; PhD in Applied Physics from Harvard University, MSci and BA in Natural Sciences from University of Cambridge. www.artbyphysicistkittyyeung.com

Dr. Jerry M. Chow is the Director of the Quantum Hardware System Development at IBM, leading the effort to envision and implement IBM’s quantum hardware systems roadmap through design, characterization, and system integration. His technical expertise is in the area of superconducting qubit quantum computing. Chow graduated magna cum laude with a BA in physics and MS in applied mathematics from Harvard University (2005) and subsequently a PhD in physics from Yale University (2010). He joined IBM as a Research Staff Member in 2010. In 2012 he was recognized in the Forbes 30 under 30 Technology list. In 2016 he co-lead the IBM Quantum Experience project, placing a real quantum processor accessible to anyone on the Cloud. In 2021, he was named an APS Fellow in the Division of Quantum Information.

Choreographer Yulia Arsen
Russian Interdisciplinary artist and choreographer. She was educated in Germany, and participated in festivals in Korea, Hungary, Germany, Russia, and Estonia. She works at the intersection of dance, theater and contemporary art. A resident of Meyerhold center (Moscow), Winzavod contemporary art center (Moscow), participant of ZIL and Stancia residencies, she collaborates with VAC- foundation, MTA, Moscow Art-Theater School and Sovremennik theater. Fellow of the STD of the Russian Federation 2020, winner of the Kulturamt der Stadt Kassel 2020 grant. With her work «Plastic bag» she was selected by the Aerowaves partners as one of the Twenty22.

Kuflex Lab is a Russian studio working with interactive audiovisual arts. Founded in 2012 by Igor Tatarnikov, Denis Perevalov and Ksenia Lyashenko.

They explore the newest ways of using video, sound, light, tracking technology and generative graphics to allow viewers to dive into that digital space. And feel it to the fullest!

Kuflex large-scale interactive installations dismantle stereotypes of sensory perception.Immersive effect switches off rational evaluative perception and provokes spontaneous emotions of inner child. A small team creates magic installations and art projects, exploring mechanisms of interaction and inter-influence of inter-subjective reality and its digital projection. Interacting with constantly changing projection, the viewer enters meditative state, turns from a passive observer into a co-creator.

Installations and audio-visual performances by Kuflex have been featured in many Russian and foreign exhibitions, festivals, museums, science and education centers in Moscow, Saint-Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Krasnoyarsk, Tyumen, Abrau-Dyurso, Netanya (Israel), Antalya (Turkey), Athens (Greece, ADAF), Las-Vegas (USA, CES), Coachella festival (USA), Beijing (China,China Science and Technology Museum), Manila (Philippines, Volvo Art Session (Switzerland) and others.

Igor and Denis are the authors of books and video course about creative coding: Mastering openFrameworks: Creative Coding Demystified (Packt Publishing, 2013), openFrameworks: Essentials (Packt Publishing, 2015), openFrameworks Interactivity (Packt Publishing, 2017). Four works of the Kuflex were included in the book New Media Installation published in 2018 in Hongkong by Sandu. Work Symbiosis was included in the book The Age of Data:

Embracing Algorithms in Art & Design which will be published on november 2021 in Switzerland by Niggli Verlag.
Press links
https://www.amazon.com/Age-Data-Embracing-Algorithms-Design/dp/3721210158
https://www.amazon.com/New-Media-Installation-Sandu-Publications/dp/158423718X

2021
Enchanted Kingdom (Philippines)
Tsvet3000 (Russia)
Intervals festival (Russia)
2020
Kusmos live personal project (WEB)
Level center (UK)
international festival EverArt Weekend (Russia)

The review on https://www.audiovisualcity.org/?s=kuflex
(Digital digest about contemporary art and technologies)

Link
https://www.instagram.com/ar/157543523122252

About Quantum Space
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sTm-
7xxZsXqNfT1rKdfdIe1qGrEQM41j/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=106460675615708497375&rtpof
=true&sd=true

Kuflex Lab is a Russian studio working with interactive audiovisual arts. Founded in 2012 by Igor Tatarnikov, Denis Perevalov and Ksenia Lyashenko.

They explore the newest ways of using video, sound, light, tracking technology and generative graphics to allow viewers to dive into that digital space. And feel it to the fullest!

Kuflex large-scale interactive installations dismantle stereotypes of sensory perception.Immersive effect switches off rational evaluative perception and provokes spontaneous emotions of inner child. A small team creates magic installations and art projects, exploring mechanisms of interaction and inter-influence of inter-subjective reality and its digital projection. Interacting with constantly changing projection, the viewer enters meditative state, turns from a passive observer into a co-creator.

Installations and audio-visual performances by Kuflex have been featured in many Russian and foreign exhibitions, festivals, museums, science and education centers in Moscow, Saint-Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Krasnoyarsk, Tyumen, Abrau-Dyurso, Netanya (Israel), Antalya (Turkey), Athens (Greece, ADAF), Las-Vegas (USA, CES), Coachella festival (USA), Beijing (China,China Science and Technology Museum), Manila (Philippines, Volvo Art Session (Switzerland) and others.

Igor and Denis are the authors of books and video course about creative coding: Mastering openFrameworks: Creative Coding Demystified (Packt Publishing, 2013), openFrameworks: Essentials (Packt Publishing, 2015), openFrameworks Interactivity (Packt Publishing, 2017). Four works of the Kuflex were included in the book New Media Installation published in 2018 in Hongkong by Sandu. Work Symbiosis was included in the book The Age of Data:

Embracing Algorithms in Art & Design which will be published on november 2021 in Switzerland by Niggli Verlag.
Press links
https://www.amazon.com/Age-Data-Embracing-Algorithms-Design/dp/3721210158
https://www.amazon.com/New-Media-Installation-Sandu-Publications/dp/158423718X

2021
Enchanted Kingdom (Philippines)
Tsvet3000 (Russia)
Intervals festival (Russia)
2020
Kusmos live personal project (WEB)
Level center (UK)
international festival EverArt Weekend (Russia)

The review on https://www.audiovisualcity.org/?s=kuflex
(Digital digest about contemporary art and technologies)

Link
https://www.instagram.com/ar/157543523122252

About Quantum Space
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sTm-
7xxZsXqNfT1rKdfdIe1qGrEQM41j/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=106460675615708497375&rtpof
=true&sd=true

Lotta Sandborgh is a dance maker from Sweden. She has worked with independent choreographers and companies such as Cooperativa Maura Morales, compagnie Tabea Martin, Cia. Nadine Gerspacher, Dagada Dance Company, Gervasi Dance Company, Animi Motus and more.

Kuflex Lab is a Russian studio working with interactive audiovisual arts. Founded in 2012 by Igor Tatarnikov, Denis Perevalov and Ksenia Lyashenko.

They explore the newest ways of using video, sound, light, tracking technology and generative graphics to allow viewers to dive into that digital space. And feel it to the fullest!

Kuflex large-scale interactive installations dismantle stereotypes of sensory perception.Immersive effect switches off rational evaluative perception and provokes spontaneous emotions of inner child. A small team creates magic installations and art projects, exploring mechanisms of interaction and inter-influence of inter-subjective reality and its digital projection. Interacting with constantly changing projection, the viewer enters meditative state, turns from a passive observer into a co-creator.

Installations and audio-visual performances by Kuflex have been featured in many Russian and foreign exhibitions, festivals, museums, science and education centers in Moscow, Saint-Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Krasnoyarsk, Tyumen, Abrau-Dyurso, Netanya (Israel), Antalya (Turkey), Athens (Greece, ADAF), Las-Vegas (USA, CES), Coachella festival (USA), Beijing (China,China Science and Technology Museum), Manila (Philippines, Volvo Art Session (Switzerland) and others.

Igor and Denis are the authors of books and video course about creative coding: Mastering openFrameworks: Creative Coding Demystified (Packt Publishing, 2013), openFrameworks: Essentials (Packt Publishing, 2015), openFrameworks Interactivity (Packt Publishing, 2017). Four works of the Kuflex were included in the book New Media Installation published in 2018 in Hongkong by Sandu. Work Symbiosis was included in the book The Age of Data:

Embracing Algorithms in Art & Design which will be published on november 2021 in Switzerland by Niggli Verlag.
Press links
https://www.amazon.com/Age-Data-Embracing-Algorithms-Design/dp/3721210158
https://www.amazon.com/New-Media-Installation-Sandu-Publications/dp/158423718X

2021
Enchanted Kingdom (Philippines)
Tsvet3000 (Russia)
Intervals festival (Russia)
2020
Kusmos live personal project (WEB)
Level center (UK)
international festival EverArt Weekend (Russia)

The review on https://www.audiovisualcity.org/?s=kuflex
(Digital digest about contemporary art and technologies)

Link
https://www.instagram.com/ar/157543523122252

About Quantum Space
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sTm-
7xxZsXqNfT1rKdfdIe1qGrEQM41j/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=106460675615708497375&rtpof
=true&sd=true

Leksha Yankov creates algorithms to generate musical score, that can play and vary, in theory, infinitely.
The tools for making music range from traditional DAW environments and hardware synths to coding environments like Sonic Pi and visual programming languages such as Max/MSP, vvvv and even Unreal Engine! And the styles range from mesmerizing ambient to dope techno from the nineties! Leksha makes electronic music since 1998, representing his own musical vision, and made a quite significant contribution to the development of Russian electronic scene.
Now Alexey creates soundscapes for interactive installations, art spaces, exhibitions and all kinds of media.

https://www.youtube.com/user/vjleksha
https://www.instagram.com/leksha_leksha/
https://soundcloud.com/leksha
https://vk.com/lekshamusic

Julia Buchberger is a festival- and theatre-maker. She studied „Szenische Künste“ (Performing Arts) at the university of Hildesheim where she worked on multiple theatre- and performance pieces, such as „I wish I was a .jpg“ by Luise März and „r/u/with me/still“ by Reiniger/Buchberger and friends. Her solo-piece „100 ways to imitate a chicken“ was invited to the Körber Studio for young directors at Thalia Theater Hamburg. In 2018 she was part of the artistic direction collective of transeuropa fluid – European Festival for Performing Arts. Building on the experience of working on a festival collectively, she, together with Max Reiniger and Patrick Kohn, worked on an antology exploring the aethetic and performative dimensions of working on theatre festivals called „Radikale Wirklichkeiten – Festivalarbeit als performatives Handeln“ that was published in 2021 by transcript Bielefeld. She is currently employed at Theater Osnabrück and works as a freelance artist.

“The reason I want to explore beyond Earth is simple: The allure of the unknown is far more powerful than the comfort of the known.”
– Dr Adriana Marais, theoretical physicist, technologist and aspiring extra-terrestrial

Dr Adriana Marais has a background in research, her award-winning PhD and postdoctoral work in quantum biology focused on photosynthesis and the origins of the building blocks of life in space. She is an internationally renowned advocate for off-world exploration, and has given hundreds of talks to audiences on all seven continents of this planet, as well as been featured in documentaries including AOL’s ‘Citizen Mars’, and CNN’s ‘Africa’s Space Race’.

Adriana is currently a Director at the Foundation for Space Development Africa, developing Africa’s first mission to the Moon, the Africa2Moon Project. She is Scientific Moderator on Space Resources with the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator, and Chair of Space Sciences at Tod’Aérs Aeronautics and Space Research. She is also Faculty at the Singularity University and Duke Corporate Education.

In 2019, Adriana founded Proudly Human, and she is currently leading the organisation’s Off-World Project: a series of off-grid habitation experiments in the most extreme environments on the planet, in preparation for life on the Moon, Mars and beyond, as well as a sustainable future on Earth.

In 2019, Manfred Rieck set the course for Deutsche Bahn for quantum technologies by founding a research group for quantum computing. The group concentrates on the industrial use of quantum computers for optimization problems and on the security aspects of quantum cryptography (PQC, QKD). He sees the quantum computing ecosystem as the key to success, which is why he is expanding the activities of Deutsche Bahn in the area, so Deutsche Bahn is a consortium partner in the PlanQK project for the creation of quantum-based AI algorithms, member of the German Industry Association for Quantum Security DIVQSec, Mr. Rieck is a member of the Governance Board of the European Quantum Industry Consortium QuIC and in the Bitkom working group HPC & Quantum Computing.

Before that, Mr. Rieck worked internationally for IBM Germany, including as EMEA responsible for the Project Management Center of Excellence, as well as for BASF in a managerial position. He holds an MBA from the University of Reading, UK and is a qualified computer scientist at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms University of Bonn.

Natalie Kilber drives technical strategy at MHP Porsche and as the CEO and Founder, at Nabla Co, by working on use cases with businesses to leverage frontier technologies, evaluating risks and potentials in emerging markets tangential to Quantum technologies in the cloud, communications, cybersecurity, venture capital and automotive sector. She has held positions at Microsoft, EEins and is a member of DPG, VDI, as well as the FFK des Deutschen Museums.  At ASPLOS, QIP and Women in Quantum, she recurrently mentors academic staff and students, who are interested in transitioning into the industry. Currently, she is a guest for topics in Quantum Software Design and Development at the Institute of Software Engineering at the University of Stuttgart.

Medb Corcoran is the Managing Director of ‘Accenture Labs’ in Ireland, one of Accenture’s seven key research hubs around the world. In her role at Accenture Labs, Medb incubates and prototypes new concepts through applied R&D projects that are expected to have a significant strategic impact on Accenture, its clients and society.

She focuses on Responsible AI, and specifically helping organisations address the challenges of Algorithmic Fairness. She is the Global Responsible AI Lead for Technology Innovation.

Medb also oversees the quantum work being done in Accenture Labs in Ireland – specifically in the area of quantum chemistry in collaboration with academia.

Lieven Scheire is a comedian, physicist and science communicator.
On stage and on television, both in Dutch and English.

While studying physics at UGent (Belgium), Lieven founded the comedy group Neveneffecten with his cousin Jonas Geirnaert. Together with Jelle De Beule and Koen De Poorter, they created not only comedy shows but also successful television programmes such as Basta and Willy’s and Marjetten.

More recently Lieven makes and presents television shows like Scheire en de Schepping (2012-2014 & 2021), De Schuur van Scheire (2015), Kan Iedereen nog Volgen (2018-2019) and Team Scheire (2018-2020). Some episodes of Scheire en de Schepping reached a market share of no less than 50%. Also on YouTube the program remains a big hit. In Team Scheire, Lieven enlists the help of a team of engineers, designers, scientists and programmers, also known as the makers. Together they come up with creative solutions for people who cannot enjoy life to the fullest because of a disability. Lieven also regularly appears on scientific programs in the Netherlands, like De Kennis van Nu and Atlas. In 2019, he won the popular TV quiz ‘De Slimste Mens ter Wereld’ (‘The Smartest Person in the World’) with verve.

In addition to his television work, you can also check out Lieven live on stage. From the start of 2022, Lieven will be touring again throughout Belgium and the Netherlands with DNA, an entertaining live show about human genetics and how it will change our lives dramatically very soon. He also wrote the DNA book on the same subject, published by Borgerhoff & Lamberigts.

With the popular Dutch podcast Nerdland, Lieven and a befriended gang of science freaks create a monthly overview of the most important science news.

Lieven has his own sublabel with publisher Borgerhoff & Lamberigts: Nerdland. Books that have appeared are DNA (2019), Fysica (2020) and Insecten (2020) by Lieven Scheire, De Geknipte Genen (2020) by Hetty Helsmoortel and three editions of the Doeboek voor Kleine Nerds (2020 & 2021) by Lieven Scheire, Henk Rijckaert and Hetty Helsmoortel.

Lieven Scheire is appreciated for his refreshing mix of science and comedy. He talks about complex subjects in an accessible way, with knowledge and the necessary dose of humour. No one can spell Einstein’s theory of relativity, quantum mechanics or Drake’s formula out like Lieven Scheire.

By the way, you can always wake him up at night for a game of cloud spotting. But only for noctilucent clouds, of course.

“The secret Belgian lovechild of Stephen Fry and Dara Ó Briain.”

“If nerds are the new hunks then the charming Lieven Scheire was set to win heads and hearts at this year’s Fringe, with his unique non-fiction stand-up. Scheire takes little concepts like, oh you know, Einstein’s’ theory of relativity, and explains them in a way that is not only accessible but also hilarious. If science lessons back at school had been more like this, maybe we would have all paid more attention and be six times smarter now.”

 
www.lievenscheire.com
www.nerdland.be

David Orrell is an applied mathematician and writer. He obtained his D.Phil. in mathematics from Oxford University, and has worked in diverse areas including weather forecasting, cancer biology, and quantum economics. He is the author of many books on science and economics including Quantum Economics: The New Science of Money, and Quantum Economics and Finance: An Applied Mathematics Introduction. He lives in Toronto.

www.postpythagorean.com

“Orrell argues that modelling markets with the mathematical toolbox of quantum mechanics could lead to a better understanding of them … Such ideas may still sound abstract. But they will soon be physically embodied on trading floors … One way or another, finance will catch up.” The Economist

Valentin Jeutner is Associate Professor of Law at Lund University and Principal Investigator of Sweden’s Quantum Law Project (http://quantum-law.org/). The first of its kind, the Quantum Law Project explores the legal dimensions of quantum computing. Before coming to Sweden, Valentin was trained as a lawyer at Oxford (BA), Georgetown (LLM) and Cambridge (PhD). He was a Junior Research Fellow (PostDoc) at Oxford, a visiting researcher at Harvard Law School’s Berkman Klein Center and has served as a digital policy advisor in the German  Chancellery.

As part of Generation Y, Magdalena Rogl has been involved in the online world for over 15 years. In 2016, she moved from the media industry to corporate communications at Microsoft Germany. Her ongoing commitment for equality and diversity became her main task in 2021 by being named as the Project Lead for Diversity & Inclusion for the company.

For her extraordinary career path as a kindergarden teacher into the digital industry, Magdalena was awarded with the Digital Female Leader Award and named one of the “25 Women Revolutionising Our Economy”. Magdalena is a value ambassador for the non-profit education initiative GermanDream and a role model for BayFid, the fellowship program of the Bavarian State Ministry for Digital Affairs.

Abraham (Avi) Loeb is the Frank B. Baird, Jr., Professor of Science at Harvard University and a bestselling author (in lists of the New York Times,Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, Die Zeit, Der Spiegel, L’Express and more). He received a PhD in Physics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel at age 24 (1980-1986), led the first international project supported by the Strategic Defense Initiative (1983-1988), and was subsequently a long-term member of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton (1988-1993). Loeb has written 8 books, including most recently, Extraterrestrial (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2021), and about 800 papers (with an h-index of 117) on a wide range of topics, including black holes, the first stars, the search for extraterrestrial life and the future of the Universe. Loeb is the head of the Galileo Project in search for extraterrestrial intelligence, the Director of the Institute for Theory and Computation (2007-present) within the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics , and also serves as the Head of the Galileo Project (2021-present). He had been the longest serving Chair of Harvard’s Department of Astronomy (2011-2020) and the Founding Director of Harvard’s Black Hole Initiative (2016-2021). He is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, the American Physical Society, and the International Academy of Astronautics. Loeb is a former member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) at the White House, a former chair of the Board on Physics and Astronomy of the National Academies (2018-2021) and a current member of the Advisory Board for “Einstein: Visualize the Impossible” of the Hebrew University. He also chairs the Advisory Committee for the Breakthrough Starshot Initiative (2016-present) and serves as the Science Theory Director for all Initiatives of the Breakthrough Prize Foundation. In 2012, TIME magazine selected Loeb as one of the 25 most influential people in space and in 2020 Loeb was selected among the 14 most inspiring Israelis of the last decade. Click here for Loeb’s commentaries on innovation and diversity.

Personal website: https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/~loeb/

As a post-doctoral fellow at the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) and the University of Waterloo, Canada, Dr. Nina Bindel researches how to maintain Internet security in the future. This includes constructing cryptographic algorithms that are secure even in the presence of quantum attackers and finding weaknesses there-in. She also has been the principal submitter of qTESLA, a quantum-secure digital signature scheme that had been submitted to NIST’s post-quantum standardization effort and advanced to the second of three rounds. Before joining IQC, she received her Ph.D. from TU Darmstadt, Germany in 2018. In addition, Nina has been a research visitor at the lattice program of the Simons Institute at UC Berkeley in spring 2020 and interned at Microsoft Research, Redmond (US), during the summer 2019. https://ninabindel.de/

Elham Kashefi is professor of quantum computing at the School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, and Directeur de recherche au CNRS at LIP6 Sorbonne Universite. She co-founded the fields of quantum cloud computing and quantum computing verification, and has pioneered a trans-disciplinary interaction of hybrid quantum-classical solutions from theoretical investigation all the way to actual experimental and industrial commercialization (co-founder of VeriQloud Ltd). She has been awarded several UK, EU and US grants and fellowships for her work in developing applications for quantum computing and communication. Furthermore, she is a senior science team leader of the UK quantum computing and simulation hub and a member of the executive team for the EU quantum internet alliance. In 2021, she received the Margaret Intrapreneur Europe award.and

Armen Sarkissian was born on June 23, 1953, in Yerevan.

EDUCATION
In 1970 he graduated from n. 114 Secondary School, Yerevan.
In 1976 Mr. Sarkissian graduated from the Department of Physics of the Yerevan State University.
In 1978 he completed post-graduate studies at the Chair of Theoretical Physics and Mathematics at the Yerevan State University and was awarded a scientific degree of the Doctor of Science.

WORK EXPERIENCE
In 1976-1990 Mr. Sarkissian was Professor of Physics at the Yerevan State University. In the mentioned period of time, Armen Sarkissian founded the Sub-Division for Computer Modelling of Complex Systems at the Department of Theoretical Physics of the YSU.
In 1984-1985 Armen Sarkissian was first a Visiting Researcher and later Professor at the Institute of Astronomy in the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.
In 1986-1992 Mr. Sarkissian continued his professional career as a Research Fellow and Visiting Professor at the Moscow State University, as well as in various universities in Germany, US, Greece, and the United Kingdom.
In 1991 he was appointed the Chargé d’affaires of the Republic of Armenia to the United Kingdom, later was appointed the Ambassador of Armenia to the UK and served in that capacity until 1996.
In 1992-1996 Armen Sarkissian was Armenia’s Senior Ambassador in Europe, Ambassador to the European Union, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Vatican, and the Head of Mission of the Republic of Armenia to the EU.
In 1996-1997 served as Prime Minister of Armenia.
1998- 2000 Mr. Sarkissian was reappointed as Armenia’s Ambassador to the UK and Vatican.
In 2000-2013 served as a Special Advisor of the President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Governor of EBRD, Founding President of the Eurasia House International, Founder and Director of the Eurasia Centre at the Cambridge University’s Judge Business School, Chairman of Global Council on Energy Security (WEF Forum), Vice Chairman, Emeritus of the East West institute (EWI). He also became the Founder of the High Power Annual Conference at the Cambridge University Commission, member of the Euro-Atlantic Security Initiative (Chair of Energy Security), the Founding President of the British-Armenian All Party Parliamentary Group, Board Member of the Global Leadership Foundation (GLF), member of the Dean’s Advisory Council at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University; member of the Dean’s Advisory Council at the Harris School of Public Policy Studies, University of Chicago; John Smith Trust member, London, UK; Board Member of the Armenian General Benevolent Union, Founder of the Yerevan, My Love Benevolent Foundation, etc.
In 2001-2013 Armen Sarkissian was a Senior Advisor to British Petroleum, Alcatel, Telefonica, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and other multinational corporations.
In 2013-2018 Armen Sarkissian was Armenia’s Ambassador to the UK.
On March 2, 2018, Armen Sarkissian was elected President of the Republic of Armenia by the National Assembly of the RA. The inauguration of the President-elect took place on April 9, 2018.

Cassandra Myers (they/she) is a queer, trans, crip, mad, South Asian-Italian poet, performer, educator, and social worker from Toronto, Ontario.  A National Poetry Slam Champion, Cassandra has performed poetry across the United States and Canada. A recent winner of the ARC Poetry Magazine Poem of the Year Award, and longlisted for the CBC Poetry Prize, Cassandra’s first book of poems is set to be released with Write Bloody Publishing in 2022.