Quantum California Convening

Registration & Networking

Welcome Remarks

Speakers set the stage for the day ahead, share insights on California's leadership in the quantum sector following the launch of Quantum California the prior year, and discuss how this convening sets up participants for ongoing engagement and collaboration.

• Barak Bussel, Managing Partner, 7i Capital; Chair, Center for Quantum Science and Engineering, UCLA
• Julio Frenk, Chancellor, UCLA
• Dee Dee Myers, Senior Advisor to the Governor and Director, Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz)

Keynote: The Momentum Behind Quantum California

How the future of quantum is happening in California, and how the Golden State's research and academic institutions position it to lead for years to come.

• Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, Chair, Assembly Appropriations Committee, California State Assembly (14th District)
• Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, Chair, Assembly Budget Committee, California State Assembly (46th District)

UCLA's Quantum Ecosystem and the UCLA Research Park

A brief history of UCLA's work in quantum, the transformational UCLA Research Park now under construction with $200M in state funding, and state investment through California Jobs First.

• Eric Hudson, Davis Saxon Presidential Chair and Professor of Physics and Astronomy; Director, Center for Quantum Science and Engineering, UCLA

Fireside Chat with IBM and HRL: A New Chapter in California

Following IBM's acquisition of HRL Laboratories, leaders from both organizations discuss why the deal came together, how HRL's silicon qubit work fits IBM's roadmap, and what the combination means for California's quantum ecosystem and the road to fault-tolerant machines.

• Thaddeus Ladd, Chief Scientist, Qubit Systems Laboratory, HRL Laboratories (an IBM company)
• Matthew Borselli, Vice President, Qubit Systems Laboratory, HRL Laboratories (an IBM company)
• Moderator: Jamie Garcia, Director, Strategic Growth and Quantum Partnerships; Senior Research Executive, IBM Research

Networking Break

Fireside Chat with Oratomic: From Breakthrough to Buildout

Oratomic's founders discuss the result that put a 10,000-qubit neutral-atom architecture on the map, the $775M raise that followed, and what it takes to turn a breakthrough paper into a company building machines in California, from talent and facilities to the partners and customers it needs next.

• Moderator: Ray Jayawardhana, President, Caltech
• Dolev Bluvstein, Co-Founder and CEO, Oratomic; Visiting Associate Professor, Caltech

CIQC Renewed: Realizing the Quantum Ecosystem and Building Future Quantum Talent

Academic and research partners behind the recently renewed $37.5M NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institute discuss how federal investment in California's quantum research apparatus continues to strengthen industry architectures, advance R&D, and cultivate future generations of workforce talent.

• Introduction: Miguel García-Garibay, Dean of Physical Sciences; Senior Dean of the College of Letters and Sciences, UCLA
• Wes Campbell, Professor of Physics, UCLA
• Ania Bleszynski Jayich, Professor of Physics; Co-Director, NSF Quantum Foundry, UC Santa Barbara
• John Preskill, Richard P. Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics; Director, Institute for Quantum Information and Matter; Caltech
• Justin Perron, Associate Professor, CSTEM Physics, CSU San Marcos
• Moderator: Shimon Kolkowitz, Roger Herst Chair Associate Professor of Physics, UC Berkeley; Director, NSF Challenge Institute for Quantum Computation (CIQC)

Lunch

Accelerating California's Quantum Workforce

The California Workforce Development Board shares how the State is aligning its workforce and education systems with the needs of the quantum industry, and how employers, colleges, and training partners can plug in.

• Kaina Pereira, Executive Director, California Workforce Development Board

Google Quantum AI

Google Quantum AI shares the latest from its Santa Barbara lab, from the Willow processor and the Quantum Echoes verifiable-advantage result to the path toward a useful quantum computer.

• Sergio Boixo, Director, Quantum Computing, Google Quantum AI

Panel: Quantum California, State Strategy and Investment in Motion

Members of the Governor's Cabinet and legislative leaders share the State's investments, what they have learned, and what is on the horizon, including how programs such as Jobs First work in tandem with industry to encourage commercialization, workforce development, and the integration of quantum technology.

• Introduction: Ah-Hyung “Alissa” Park, Ronald and Valerie Sugar Dean; Professor, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, UCLA Samueli School of Engineering
• Senator Tim Grayson, Chair, Senate Banking and Financial Institutions Committee; Senate Majority Whip, California State Senate (9th District)
• Dee Dee Myers, Senior Advisor to the Governor and Director, Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz)
• Theresa A. Maldonado, Vice President for Research and Innovation, University of California Office of the President (UCOP)
• Moderator: Nani Coloretti, Cabinet Secretary, Office of Governor Gavin Newsom

Breakout Sessions I

Attendees choose one of three concurrent sessions.

Networking Break

Breakout Sessions II

Attendees choose one of three concurrent sessions.

Panel: Quantum Advantage Through Shared Opportunity

International partnerships shaping California's quantum future, with a focus on the growing collaboration between California and the United Kingdom.

• Paul Rennie OBE, British Consul General in Los Angeles
• Moderator: Tricia Utterback, International Trade and Investment Representative, Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz)

Closing Remarks & Preview of Day 2

Wrapping up the day and looking ahead to Day 2.

Reception

Breakfast & Networking

Welcoming Remarks

Speakers set the stage for the day ahead and share how California's research institutions and public partners are carrying Quantum California forward.

• Shouleh Nikzad, Chief Technologist, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
• Lark Park, Executive Director, California Education Learning Lab; Regent, University of California

Expanding in the Golden State

Leaders of quantum companies that have chosen to locate and expand in California and the Los Angeles area discuss what drew them to the state, from proximity to research institutions, talent, and testbeds to capital, and what will keep them growing.

• Introduction: Kelly LoBianco, Director, Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity
• Alex Shih, Vice President of Product, Q-CTRL
• James Guilmart, Lead Product Manager, Q-CTRL
• Reza Nejabati, Head of Quantum Research and Labs, Cisco
• Stefanie Tardo, Chief Operating Officer, Diraq
• Keith Wright, Head of US Business Development, Quantum Machines

Building the California Ecosystem

Research and education institutions across the state, from Pasadena to Riverside to San Diego, discuss how a connected regional ecosystem strengthens California as a whole.

• Rosa Di Felice, Professor of Physics and Astronomy and Quantitative and Computational Biology, USC
• Hirosi Ooguri, Fred Kavli Professor of Theoretical Physics and Mathematics; Kent and Joyce Kresa Leadership Chair, Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy, Caltech
• Michael Sailor, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry; Director, NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Center; Co-Director, Institute for Materials Discovery and Design, UC San Diego
• Nathaniel Gabor, Professor of Physics and Astronomy; Principal Investigator, Center for Quantum Vibronics in Energy and Time (QuVET), UC Riverside; Technical Lead, Quantum Sciences, Apsidal

Networking & Coffee

Panel: Opportunities in Aerospace, Maritime, and Defense

How quantum materials, sensing, timing, and communications technologies are opening new opportunities in aerospace, defense, and maritime applications, and how California's defense economy strengths position the state to lead.

• Jay Lowell, Principal Senior Technical Fellow and Quantum Technology Leader, Boeing Quantum Systems
• Andrew Mollner, Principal Director, Electronics and Photonics Laboratory, The Aerospace Corporation
• Dr. Joanna Ptasinski, Branch Head, Cryogenic Electronics and Quantum Research, Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific
• Moderator: Karl Jacob, Commercial Strategy Office, DARPA; Strategic Advisor, USC Information Sciences Institute

Lunch & Presentation: Quantum California, Strategy and What's Next

Lunch is served while GO-Biz presents the next phase of Quantum California: the priorities ahead, upcoming investments, and how participants can stay engaged in the year to come.

• Trelynd Bradley, Deputy Director, Innovation and Emerging Technologies, Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz)

Closing Remarks

Closing reflections on the two days and the commitments carried forward, from GO-Biz and UCLA.

Site Tours & Visits (Optional)

Optional guided tours of UCLA quantum research labs, including trapped-ion quantum computing, quantum optics, and superconducting qubit facilities.