News

The Institute for Quantum Computing’s (IQC) Achievement Award is given to a University of Waterloo graduate student who studies quantum information and has achieved excellence in research. The latest winner, Chung-You Shih of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, talked with us about his PhD research, thinking about working in industry, and his advice for students looking to study quantum information.

Congratulations on your Achievement Award Chung-You. How did you end up studying quantum information science at IQC?

Congratulations to Naman Gupta, Physics and Astronomy graduate student who won the 2020 G. Michael Bancroft Masters Thesis Award from the Canadian Light Source (CLS). The G. Michael Bancroft Masters Thesis Award is awarded to the Masters thesis judged to be the best published in the last calendar year.

The title and abstract of Naman's thesis appear below.

Establishing and supporting innovative research projects is an important priority for the University of Waterloo. The Canadian Foundation for Innovation’s John R. Evans Leaders Fund has recognized four Faculty of Science researchers to embarking upon research or technology development that is innovative, high quality and meets international standards.

The Department of Physics and Astronomy would like to congratulate Crystal Senko as one of the award recipients.

A serious passion for physics was what drew Parshant Utam to study Mathematical Physics at the University of Waterloo. Little did he realize that the University’s entrepreneurial atmosphere would lead him to become a co-founder of viral smartphone app that is pure fun.

IQC researchers have developed a method to simplify the analysis of quantum communication protocols compatible with existing telecommunications infrastructure.

Shayan Majidy, a PhD candidate in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, has earned the prestigious Vanier Scholarship award for his research achievements and his work in quantum computing education.

What can detectors detect?

We congratulate Laura Henderson, who was awarded the Pearson Medal for her doctoral thesis in Relativistic Quantum Information.  Entitled “What can detectors detect?”, Laura’s thesis advanced our understanding of the relationship between quantum information, space, and time in novel ways.

At first glance, astrophysics may not seem to have much in common with tracking and predicting the spread of a global virus. But to Professor Niayesh Afshordi, the link was clear – even early last year as our collective reaction to COVID-19 played out in real time.

The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), which started its main survey of the Universe on May 17 this year will allow researchers, including astrophysicists at the University of Waterloo, to study dark energy in ways that have not been possible before.

Researchers from Canada and the United Kingdom will test a new approach for secure communication using satellite-based quantum technology.

Led by Thomas Jennewein, a faculty member in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Institute for Quantum Computing, researchers at the University of Waterloo are developing the Quantum Encryption and Science Satellite (QEYSSat), with a quantum key distribution payload that will allow the transmission of unbreakable keys for securing information.