Thursday, April 28, 2011
IQC Deputy Director Michele Mosca has been named among Canada's Top 40 Under 40.
The award, announced today in The Globe and Mail, recognizes 40 young Canadians whose leadership has made positive differences in their communities and the country.
As one of the founding leaders of the University of Waterloo’s Institute for Quantum Computing, as well as a founding researcher at Waterloo’s Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Mosca has helped put Waterloo and Canada at the forefront of research and innovation.
"Michele's leadership and vision have helped establish the University of Waterloo as a global leader in quantum research," said University of Waterloo President Feridun Hamdullahpur. "His incalculable contributions to science in Canada make him an ideal recipient of the Top 40 Under 40 Award."
Mosca has made major contributions to the theory and practice of quantum information processing, particularly in the areas of quantum algorithms and quantum cryptography.
Mosca and the other 39 recipients were selected from more than 1,000 nominees by an independent advisory board made up of 25 business leaders from across Canada.
"Dr. Mosca is a deserving recipient of this award because he not only met but exceeded the critiera which our Advisory Board uses to select the Top 40," said Avo Oudabachian, a partner with Caldwell Partners, the founding sponsor of the annual award.
“I’m very honoured and thankful to be counted among such a prestigious group of Canadians,” said Mosca. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to meet this remarkable group of people and gain further inspiration and ideas for the future.”
Honourees were chosen according to five criteria: vision and leadership, innovation and achievement, impact, community involvement, and strategy for growth.
After earning his doctorate in mathematics at Oxford, Mosca returned to his native Canada with the vision of establishing a world-class research group to investigate the emerging science of quantum information. He knew his undergraduate alma mater, the University of Waterloo, had the fertile academic soil needed for such an ambitious venture to take root.
Just over a decade ago, he joined the nascent Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics as a founding researcher and began assembling a core team of quantum information scientists. This convergence of top scientists inspired Mike Lazaridis, co-founder and co-CEO of Research in Motion, to fund a new research centre devoted specifically to quantum information — the Institute for Quantum Computing.
Mosca has made key contributions to the theoretical foundations of quantum computing and developed what are now textbook approaches to the uses and limitations of quantum algorithms.
Through his research and leadership, and his efforts to create the University of Waterloo’s collaborative graduate studies program in quantum information, Mosca has helped build Canada’s reputation as a worldwide epicentre for quantum research.
“Our goal has been to become the ‘Quantum Valley’ of the world,” said Mosca, who holds a Canada Research Chair in Quantum Computation and is a Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research.
“We have been laying a foundation in Canada, with invaluable support from private, provincial and federal funding. I’d like us to build on that foundation by making major breakthroughs and nurturing the next generation of quantum researchers, to turn the breakthroughs into benefits for society. ”
Mosca says he is grateful to all his peers, mentors and family, as well as the visionaries whose support has allowed Canada to lead the quantum revolution.
“This award symbolizes work that I couldn’t have done without the encouragement and guidance of many exceptional people.”