Dr. Martin Mevissen, Senior Research Manager for AI & Quantum, IBM Research Laboratory
Dr. Martin Mevissen is the Senior Research Manager for AI & Quantum at the IBM Research lab in Dublin, Ireland. He recieved a M.S. degree in mathematics from ETH Zurich in 2007, and a Ph.D. degree in mathematical and computing sciences from Tokyo Institute of Technology in 2010. After a post-doctoral fellowship with LAAS-CNRS in Toulouse, he joined IBM Research in 2011.
Dr. Mevissen’s expertise lies in the areas of mathematical optimization, operations research, decision making under uncertainty and their applications. He has been recipient of IBM Research Outstanding Technical Achievement Awards and an IBM Research Division Award. His current focus is quantum algorithms for mathematical optimization problems, optimisation-based methods for quantum systems, AI Applications and scaling and automating AI. Dr. Mevissen is a Master Inventor and a member of the Mathematical Science Council at IBM Research.
Ben Christy, Quantum Policy Lead, Office for Quantum, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
Ben is the policy lead for supporting business and investment within the UK Government’s Office for Quantum. The Office is responsible for designing and delivering the UK’s National Quantum Strategy, a 10-year plan to make the UK a leading quantum-enabled economy, backed by £2.5 billion in public funding.
Ben has a background in net zero and innovation policy and is a Policy Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Dr Sonali Mohapatra, Quantum Innovation Sector Lead, National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC)
Dr Sonali Mohapatra is an Innovation Lead at the NQCC leading and supporting the NQCC’s innovation strategy and sectoral engagement framework. She focuses on quantum computing use-case discovery and application development working with a variety of stakeholders such as government, industry, academia, policymakers, regulators and investors to support the user journey from awareness to advocacy. These span across a portfolio of sectors such as financial services, healthcare & pharmaceuticals, space, energy, transport and AI to deliver quantum readiness for the UK. Sonali has an interdisciplinary research background and extensive industry experience leading the technical development and commercialisation of early-stage quantum, space and AI technologies. In the past she has led the development of multiple world firsts including but not limited to the development of some of the world’s first-ever AI powered miniatured quantum key distribution modules for CubeSats.