"Building the Quantum Stack: From Qubits to Applications" fireside chat occurred during the global cooperation breakout session at Quantum World Congress 2023 featuring Dr. Celia Merzbacher, Executive Director of the Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C), and Dr. James Kushmerick, Director of the Physical Measurement Laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Dr. Celia Merzbacher is Executive Director of the Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C), a consortium that aims to enable and grow the U.S. quantum industry. QED-C is supported by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and nearly 250 industry, academic and other members and is managed by SRI International. Previously, Dr. Merzbacher was Vice President for Innovative Partnerships at the Semiconductor Research Corporation. In 2003-2008, she was Assistant Director for Technology R&D in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and Executive Director of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Dr. Merzbacher is a Fellow of the AAAS and served as Chair of the National Materials and Manufacturing Board of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine and on the Board of Directors of ANSI.

Dr. James Kushmerick is Director of the Physical Measurement Laboratory (PML) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) where he is responsible for the maintenance, development, and dissemination of the U.S. national measurement standards system, and he oversees NIST’s world-class programs in quantum information science, neuromorphic computing, and quantum measurement standards. He also directs the full suite of NIST calibration services in dimensional, electromagnetic, ionizing radiation, mechanical, optical, thermodynamic, and time and frequency metrology.