ADDENDUM
ADDITIONALSPEAKERBIOS
Dr.DouglasBopp isthe Founderand CEO ofApex Atom ics,where he leadsthe industrialization ofquantum sensing from atom ic physicsto f ielded hardw are.A NIST-trained physicist,he hasbuilta verticaly integrated platform spanning chip-scale atom ic devices,ruggedized photonics,and SI-traceable calibration,transitioning sensorsfrom laboratory prototypesto m is ion-ready system s.Apex Atom icsacceleratesdeploym entby unifying rapid prototyping and production underidenticaltooling and validation fram ew orks,delivering reliable,m anufacturable atom ic sensorsfor defense and high-consequence com m ercialapplicationsw here perform ance,robustnes ,and trustworthines are inseparable.
Dr.Hannah Clevenson isthe Group Leaderforthe Quantum Technology ApplicationsGroup atThe CharlesStark Draper Laboratory,Inc.W ith a background spanning from diam ond NVs,cold atom s,and Rydberg sensorsto photonicsand RF engineering,Hannah’scurentwork focuseson using quantum and opticalsensing forposition,navigation,and tim ing (PNT)applications,especialy in chalenging operationalenvironm ents. Dr.Clevenson holdsa BE in electricalengineering from CooperUnion,an M S in electricalengineering from Colum bia university,and a PhD in EECS from the M as achusets Institute ofTechnology.
Dr.KrisM erkel isthe Presidentand CEO ofS2 Corporation,a Bozem an,M ontana-based com pany specializing in ultra-w ideband staring radio frequency spectralanalysisand quantum -inspired photonic-based analog signalproces ing technologies.W ith a Ph.D.in ElectricalEngineering w ith a photonicsem phasisfrom the University ofW ashington,he spearheaded S2 Corporation'soriginsasa spin-outfrom Scientif ic M aterialsCorporation in 2005 afterseveralyearsof research atM ontana State University in Bozem an M ontana. M erkel'sexpertise spansoverRF signalproces ing,w ith applicationsin defense and hom eland security.The core technology utilizescryogenic rare-earth doped crystalsand their interaction w ith m odulated laserlight. Dr.M erkeland team were the recipientofthe 2014 Jery SowelRF Award from the As ociation ofOld Crows,and he continuesto advance use casesand com parisonsbetween photonic cryogenic quantum sensorsand otherapproachesto com m ercialize spatial-spectralholography form ilitary and com m ercialapplications. Dr.Kaitlin M oore isa SeniorPhysicistand ProjectM anageratRydberg Technologies,leading a portfolio ofprojectsin quantum sensing and technology.She previously led a quantum research team ata nonprof itresearch institute,focusing on defense applicationsofquantum sensing.Herwork hasbeen recognized with a DARPA Young Faculty Award.She has been a NationalResearch CouncilPostdoctoralFelow atthe NationalInstitute ofStandardsand Techcology.Dr.M oore earned herPh.D.in Applied Physicsfrom the University ofM ichigan,w here she wasa Rackham Graduate Felow.Her research spansRydberg-atom sensors,opticalatom ic clocks,and cold-atom chip-scale platform s. Dr.W ale Lawal,PhD ,isthe CTO and co-founderofM esa Quantum System s.An AirForce veteran,he earned hisPhD in M aterialsScience and Nanoengineering from Rice University before serving asa program lead atthe AirForce Research Laboratory’sM unitionsDirectorate.Folow ing histenure in the AirForce,he pursued advanced studiesatHarvard,earning an M S in Quantum Engineering and an M BA from Harvard Busines School.W ith hisdeep expertise in quantum technology and defense applications,He leadstransitioning technology from the lab to the w arf ighter— driving innovation atthe intersection ofquantum physics,m aterialscience,and m anufacturable hardw are.He hasbeen instrum entalin securing both com m ercialand governm entpartnerships,aswelasadvancing M esa’score IP portfolio. Dr.Siam ak Dadras received hisPhD in Photonicsfrom O klahom a State University,w here hisresearch in the Atom Interferom etry and Quantum ChaosGroup explored m om entum -space quantum ratchetsand random walkswith ultra-cold atom s.He continued hiswork in quantum science asa postdoctoralas ociate atthe University ofRochester’s Institute ofO ptics,focusing on levitated opto-m echanics,nano-scale quantum sensing,and solid-state laserrefrigeration. Since 2021,he hasserved asa Quantum Application Scientistatthe U.S.headquartersofTOPTICA Photonicsin Pitsford, NY,w here he leadsthe com pany'sef fortsin low -SW aP,application-specif ic integrated laserenginesforquantum applications.He also overseesTOPTICA-USA'squantum partnerships,including DARPA RobustQuantum Sensors(RoQS), MicroelectronicCom m ons,and NSF NQVL program s.
Dr.Ilya Ponom arev isChiefBusines Developm entOf f i ceratEuclid Beam labs,w here he leadsadvanced diam ond grow th and radiation-hardened device application research.He holdsa Ph.D.in Physicsfrom the University ofNew South W ales. Dr.Ponom arev pioneered high-pres ure high-tem perature diam ond growth technology providing >100× reduction in defectdensity and strain com pared to CVD m ethods-recognized with the 2025 R&D100 Award.Underhisleadership, Euclid hasadvanced to becom e the sole m anufacturerofHPHT diam ond crystalsin the USA.He servesasPrincipal Investigatoron m ultiple award-winning DOD,DOE,and NASA SBIR program sfocused on diam ond.Priorto Euclid,Dr. Ponom arev held positionsatthe NRL and served in science policy rolesatThom son Reutersand DTRA.He hasauthored over50 publications.
ADDITIONALSPEAKERBIOS
Dr.Nikunjkum arPrajapati isa scientistatthe NationalInstitute ofStandardsand Technology (NIST).He obtained hisPhD from W iliam and M ary in quantum opticsand hasworked on Rydberg atom sensing and applicationsforthe past5 years. He hasworked on im proving the sensitivity,bandw idth,and applicationsforRydberg atom sensors.Som e key developm entsNik wasin charge ofinclude introducing the im aging capability utilizing Rydberg atom sensors,obtaining high bandw idth forreal-tim e video reception,and the im plem entation ofcom b enabled Rydberg sensing to im prove the tunablility ofthese sensors.
MarcC.St.John isa PrincipalEngineerwith The M ITRE Corporation,M cLean,VA,USA,where he isresearching and developing m icroelectronicsarchitectures,non-traditionalelectrom agnetic sensors,m icrow ave photonics,m ultifunction w ireles system s,and m ethodsfordynam ic spectrum acces and electrom agnetic com patibility between sim ultaneous spectrum dependentapplications.From 1997 to 2005,he wasa PrincipalEngineerwith HughesNetwork System s,where he researched and developed satelite com m unicationselectronics.M arc received the B.S.degree in physicsfrom Furm an University,Greenvile,SC,USA,in 1994 and the M .S.degree in electricaland com puterengineering from the Georgia Institute ofTechnology,Atlanta,GA,USA,in 1996.
Dr.RobertS.W iliam son II isVice PresidentofBusines Developm entatM onarch Quantum ,a a U.S.-based quantum photonicscom pany building integrated photonicssystem s— Quantum LightEngines™ — for quantum com puting,sensing,and com m unications.Rob leadsM onarch’scom m ercialef forts,connecting w ith custom ers to understand and develop theirrequirem entsand working w ith the engineering team to turn them into com m ercial, m anufacturable products.He hasover35 yearsofexperience leading advanced productdevelopm ent,spanning telecom m unications,aerospace,defense,com m ercial,and quantum applications.He received hisBS in Physicsfrom Caltech and hisPhD in atom ic physicsfrom UW -M adison working w ith Thad W alkercreating the f irstm agneto-optical trapsforrubidium and forpotas ium .He holdspatentsin f ieldsranging from telecom m unicationspackaging to diode-pum ped solid-state lasersto quantum com puting.
Dr.AnnaZaniewski,PhD isCTO ofAdventDiam ond,where she advancesdiam ond sem iconductorsasa platform for extrem e-perform ance m icroelectronicsacros pow er,RF,and quantum -clas icalsystem s.
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