Director, Gerald Buller
Gerald is the Director of the Integrated Quantum Networks Hub and was Principal Investigator of the EPSRC-funded Quantum Communications Hub. He held an EPSRC Established Career Fellowship in Quantum Technology (2015-2020) and is currently a Professor of Physics at Heriot-Watt University. He has worked in single-photon physics and its applications since 1990, and is a long-standing expert in quantum communications.
In 2012, Gerald was the founding Director of Heriot-Watt’s Institute of Photonics and Quantum Sciences, bringing together photonics and quantum specialists from across physics, electronic engineering and mechanical engineering to establish a UK centre of excellence. Gerald has published over 300 papers in quantum technology, with over 13,500 citations and an h-index of 61. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, a Fellow of the UK Institute of Physics and a Fellow of Optica (formerly the Optical Society of America). Gerald also co-founded Helia Photonics Ltd., where he remains a company director.
Assistant Director, Alessandro Fedrizzi
Alessandro is a Professor of Physics at Heriot-Watt University with a twenty-year track record in experimental quantum technology research. His expertise lies in the engineering of quantum light sources for applications in quantum communication, computing and metrology. Alessandro’s current research focuses on quantum networking with multi-photon states and long-distance QKD over fibre and satellite links. He was a scientific lead on entanglement networking in the UK’s phase-2 Quantum Communications Hub.
Assistant Director, Ciara Rafferty
Ciara is a Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Secure information Technologies at Queen’s University Belfast, where she leads research into advanced cryptography and data security. She was a lead researcher in the UK Quantum Communications Hub and a Co-investigator on the Innovate UK AQuASeC project led by Toshiba Europe Limited and the Rolls Royce funded project SEQURED. She is a senior member of IEEE and an EPSRC SPRITE+ Expert Fellow.
Assistant Director and Quantum Memories Theme Leader, Jason Smith
Jason is the Professor of Photonic Materials and Devices in the Department of Materials at the University of Oxford and leads the Photonic Nanomaterials Group (PNG). His research focuses on the science and application of optical systems at nanometer and micrometer length scales, seeking to develop new devices and instruments for future technologies, including optical devices for quantum communications and computing.
Dynamic Networking and Entanglement Distribution Theme Leader, Rui Wang
Rui is an Early Career Researcher. He has worked on the development of photonics networking technologies for over a decade and specifically on quantum networking. Rui has developed new ideas for dynamic quantum networking utilising AI, and optical switch design for co-existence of quantum and classical networks. He has established large-scale quantum networks in Bristol including dynamic prepare-and-measure QKD networks and entanglement-based quantum networks.
Satellite Quantum Communications Theme Leader, Andy Vick
Andy is the Head of the Disruptive Space Technology Centre (DSTC) in RAL Space, whose aim is to accelerate the application of new, innovative technologies and techniques in the space domain. Under his leadership, the DSTC collaborates with original inventors and end users to develop disruptive technologies that benefit UK strategic aims, in particular those of the UKRI science councils. Within the DSTC, he is responsible for the teams, facilities and funding required to support a wide range of such projects, including software analysis systems, optical and photonic sub-systems, scientific instruments, space qualification methodologies, advanced processor hardware, and new detector technologies.
Quantum Components Theme Leader, Mark Fox
Mark has been working on solid-state quantum emitters for over two decades with a special focus on the use of the Purcell effect to enhance the emission rate from semiconductor quantum dots embedded within photonic structures. In more recent years, he has focused on developing quantum-dot sources in photonic crystal cavities.
Quantum Protocols and Networking Theory Theme Leader, Roger Colbeck
Roger is a pioneer of device-independent quantum random number generation (DI-QRNG). He has developed useful tools and relations between entropy measures that is useful for QRNG analysis. He was part of a team that demonstrated DI randomness expansion for the first time. He has developed new protocols for enhanced randomness rates and formed tight bounds on the relationship between the nonlocality of a system and the amount of DI randomness that can be derived.
Quantum-safe Secure Communications and Standards Theme Leader, Christopher Chunnilall
Christopher is a Principal Scientist at the National Physical Laboratory, working on metrology for quantum photonic technologies. This involves developing SI-traceable measurement capability for the test and evaluation of single-photon emitters, detectors, and technologies based on these such as QKD and QRNGs, and establishing the NPL quantum networks testbed. Christopher contributes to the development of industry standards for quantum photonic technologies, through participation in relevant BSI, CEN/CENELEC, ETSI, and IEC and ISO committees.