Abstract:

For the last 25 years, a useful quantum computer has been “20 years away.” That is finally changing. Recent milestones, from Google’s demonstration of below-threshold quantum error correction to the first verifiable quantum advantage, signal that large-scale quantum computing is now a question of engineering rather than possibility. With it comes Q-Day: the point at which a quantum computer can break the public-key cryptography that underpins almost all secure communication today.

Bio:

Dr Byron Villis is CEO and co-founder of Photon Foundry, a quantum photonics company spun out of the University of Technology Sydney to commercialise room-temperature single-photon emitters in hexagonal boron nitride. His career spans both academic and industry quantum research. He completed his PhD on enabling technologies for quantum computers within the ARC Centre of Excellence CQC2T, held a research position at University College London, and was a senior research fellow in the Quantum Nanoscience Lab, a Microsoft Quantum and University of Sydney partnership, where he worked on qubit readout and cryogenic measurement. He later worked as a quantum measurement engineer at Archer Materials. His research background spans spin-qubit readout, single-electron transistors and millikelvin cryogenics. He now leads Photon Foundry’s work on the photonic hardware underpinning quantum-secure communications.