The
Waterloo
Institute
for
Nanotechnology
(WIN)
has
launched
a
new
seminar
series,
Quantum
Nano
Collision
(QNC)
Seminar
Series,
to
deepen
the
engagement
of
the
Waterloo
researchers
who
work
at
the
interface
of
quantum
and
nanotechnologies.
This
seminar
series
will
also
provide
opportunities
for
senior
graduate
students,
post-doctoral
fellows,
and
research
associates
to
present
their
innovative
work
along
with
the
faculty
members
to
bring
together
the
excitement
around
these
cutting-edge
technologies
that
would
shape
our
future.
The
inaugural
talk
for
the
QNC
Seminar
Series
will
be
delivered
by
Professor
Na
Young
Kim.
This
new
series
will
be
introduced
to
the
Waterloo
community
by
Professor
Bessma
Momani,
Interim
Associate
Vice-President
of
Interdisciplinary
Research.
Registration is required. If you have any questions or issues registering, please contact win-office@uwaterloo.ca
Where Quantum and Nano Collide
Quantum mechanics is a triumphant and beautiful theoretical framework that teaches us a new way to understand Nature as a radical paradigm shift starting in the early 20th century. Although nano-scale features and applications could date back even 600 BC, modern nanoscience and nanotechnologies have been one of the active scientific and engineering endeavors since the 1950s thanks to the remarkable advancement in material growth and device processing technologies.
The University of Waterloo has been recognized for strong research and academic programs of both quantum and nano science and technologies by two pillar institutes: Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) and Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology (WIN), residing in Mike and Ophelia Lazaridis Quantum-Nano Center. As a member of IQC and WIN, I will present some of our group’s research activities in the realm of quantum and nano science and technologies followed by exciting future perspectives and ambitious dreams through on-going and potential synergistic opportunities between two communities.
Speaker Biographies
Na Young Kim is an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. She has an affiliation with the Institute for Quantum Computing and Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology and cross-appointments with the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Department of Chemistry.
Na Young leads the Quantum Innovation (QuIN) laboratory, which aims to build large-scale quantum processors based on novel materials and advanced technologies. Two kick-off projects are under way: (1) a semiconductor quantum processors project that establishes controllable optical and electrical domains, in which her research team is learning insights of exotic materials and the fundamental nature of symmetries, and (2) a project in which a multi-functional classical and quantum device arrays establishes a planar architecture comprised of nano-scale devices with electrical, optical, thermal and mechanical functionality.
Prior to joining the University of Waterloo in 2016, Na Young worked for Apple Inc. developing small display products. She received a BS in Physics from Seoul National University and pursued her graduate studies exploring mesoscopic transport properties in low-dimensional nanostructures in the Department of Applied Physics at Stanford University. During her postgraduate research, she expanded her scope to the fields of quantum optics and nanophotonics, working on several experimental and theoretical projects in collaboration with graduate students, postdoctoral scholars and collaborators.
Bessma Momani is a Professor in the Department of Political Science and Interim Associate Vice-President of Interdisciplinary Research at the University of Waterloo. She is also a senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation and non-resident fellow at the Arab Gulf States’ Institute in Washington, DC, and a Fulbright Scholar. She was interim Assistant Vice-President, International at the University of Waterloo, Assistant Vice-President, Research and International in the Office of Research, a 2015 fellow of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and at the Stimson Center in Washington, DC, and was a visiting scholar at Georgetown University’s Mortara Center. Bessma is a Fellow of the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary and sits on the Advisory Council to the Middle East Institute’s program on Economics and Energy. She has worked as a consultant to the International Monetary Fund, both in the communications office and the Independent Evaluation Office.
Bessma currently sits on the board of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation and serves as an adviser to the National Security Transparency Advisory Group at Public Safety Canada. She is currently consulting for Global Affairs Canada as a Visiting Scholar in its International Assistance Research and Knowledge Division by looking at economic security in the Middle East with a particular focus on women and youth. She sits on the Editorial Board of the Canadian Foreign Policy Journal.