Jon Yard

• Email: jyard@uwaterloo.ca
• Office: QNC 3126
• Office Phone: 519-888-4567 ext. 30229
• Admin Support: Chin Lee

Jon Yard joined the Institute for Quantum Computing in September 2016 as Associate Professor in the Department of Combinatorics and Optimization in the Faculty of Mathematics and as an Associate Faculty member with the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics (PI).

Yard earned his doctorate under the supervision of information theorist Thomas Cover at Stanford University, where his theoretical research was focused on core questions in quantum information theory such as determining the capacities of noisy quantum channels and networks for distributing quantum information. Gradually shifting his attention towards quantum computing, Yard moved on to postdoctoral positions at McGill University, Caltech and Los Alamos National Laboratory. At Los Alamos, Yard was awarded the Richard P. Feynman Fellowship for his work in quantum communication theory.

As part of Microsoft’s Research Station Q team, Yard pursued connections between algebraic number theory and quantum computing, and also looked at the classification of topological states of matter.

At IQC, Yard will tackle complex mathematical problems and look for new solutions to existing problems by combining approaches from mathematics, physics, engineering and computer science.

Research expertise

• Quantum information theory
• Quantum computing
• Algebraic number theory
• Quantum field theory
• Computational complexity theory

Degrees

• PhD, in Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, 2005
• MS in Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, 2000
• BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, 1997

Awards & Honours

• Richard P. Feynman Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2009-2012
• Pat Goldberg Memorial Best Paper Award, IBM Research, for “Quantum communication with zero-capacity channels” with G. Smith, 2009

Major Positions