Meet Jack deGooyer

Jack deGooyer

MASc Student | Electrical and Computer Engineering (Quantum Information) 

Jack deGooyer describes himself as “an engineer through and through.” He is fascinated by the interconnections between fields and topics, and then looks for practical applications for ideas coming from the physics world. It was during his undergraduate degree, studying electrical engineering, that he realized that much of the science and hands-on electrical engineering that he enjoyed was in fact, quantum physics. This realization led Jack to graduate school at the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC), where he is excited by the collaborative research environment and interdisciplinarity that stems from having multiple disciplines housed within the IQC community.  

“IQC is a community of people who are also pursuing their passions and the possibilities that their collaborative research enables,” says Jack, who is specializing in Quantum Information at IQC and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Waterloo. “The size of IQC lends itself very well to collaboration. I think it’s an environment where people cross-pollinate ideas. While often you’re not working on the same project, it may be that you’re still pushing forward someone else’s project with the benefits of your independent research.” 

Jack's fascination with the extreme accuracy needed to measure light speeds in electronic devices led him to his supervisor, Dr. Michael Reimer, an IQC faculty member whose research expertise includes quantum photonic circuits and highly efficient quantum detectors. Jack’s research looks at integrating circuit development with new quantum sensors, in order to create an array of sensors that work together in imaging applications. 

“Usually, we can get the electronics for one sensor working pretty well,” says Jack. “My challenge is getting 50, 100, or 1000 sensors turned properly into a camera. That’s when you start to get into the nitty gritty of integrated circuit development that I think is interesting.” Jack’s work leads the development of full-scale cameras with applications in soft tissue imaging and healthcare. Specifically, the lab is working on devices that image an eye’s retina and can aid doctors and optometrists in diagnosing a variety of eye diseases. 

Having the space to develop his research project is something that Jack has been very grateful for. “My supervisor gave me the opportunity to figure out what I think is interesting,” says Jack. “Because I had the opportunity to select my own research project, it's a project that I think is important and one that I have a passion for.” 

The Quantum-Nano Fabrication and Characterization Facility was also a strong attraction for Jack when he chose IQC for his graduate studies. He explains that by having this facility right in Waterloo’s Mike and Ophelia Lazaridis Quantum-Nano Centre, his research is not impacted by external factors and timelines that could slow down his research, such as the current global microchip shortage. Instead, he builds and tests his detectors in the clean room facility, leading to a tight development loop which speeds up his research. 

Jack also gets involved with graduate student life at IQC by attending student seminars, volunteering with outreach programs, and is involved with planning an upcoming graduate student conference being held at IQC. 

Looking ahead, Jack wants to continue exploring the ways in which different quantum fields and topics interconnect, especially when it comes to his interest in combining photonics with integrated server development. 

“I think we're at a point when it comes to quantum physics, quantum research and quantum materials that engineers can now begin to build these ideas up and develop practical applications.”