Building Scalable Quantum Computers

Rob Hays is CEO & President of Atom Computing. He has more than 20 years of technology leadership, pushing the limits of computing performance and innovation. Before joining Atom Computing, Rob was Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer for Lenovo’s Infrastructure Solutions Group and Vice President and General Manager at Intel where he was responsible for leading Intel’s Xeon processor roadmaps. Rob holds a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from Georgia Tech and two U.S. patents.

Ben Bloom is Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Atom Computing where he leads the technical innovations and engineering teams building atomic array quantum computing technologies based on neutral atoms. Ben has worked on various quantum technologies and founded Atom Computing in January 2018 after realizing neutral atom systems offer the best path to large-scale quantum computing. Ben holds a bachelor’s degree from MIT and PhD in physics from the University of Colorado-Boulder where he helped develop one of the most accurate atomic clocks ever constructed. He has co-authored several scientific publications and holds multiple U.S. patents.

Dr. Jonathan King is Co-Founder and Chief Scientist at Atom Computing where he leads the applications team responsible for benchmarking and use-case development. Jonathan has more than a decade of experience as a researcher in quantum technologies. Before joining Atom Computing, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, where he worked on a variety of experimental and theoretical projects in the realm of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.  Jonathan holds a PhD in chemical engineering from UC-Berkeley, a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Kansas State University, and two U.S. patents.

Sarah Murrow is Vice President of Human Resources at Atom Computing. She brings more than 20 years of HR experience, including a strong knowledge of employee relations, talent acquisition and staffing, compensation, leadership, employee development, and benefits, as well as a thorough understanding of corporate and legal compliance. She previously led human resources for Envysion, Connexn, Accera, and Clean Energy Collection. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business management from Colorado State University.

Justin Ging is Chief Product Officer at Atom Computing, leading product management and customer experience for Atom Computing. He has more than 20 years of product management, product marketing, and sales experience. Before joining Atom Computing, Justin worked as Chief Commercial Officer at Honeywell Quantum Solutions, and previously led marketing teams at Samsung, Aptina Imaging, and Analog Devices, and held engineering roles at Bell Labs and Lockheed Martin. He holds multiple degrees from MIT including an MBA, bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering and computer science, and a master’s degree in materials science.

Kevin McClaughry is Vice President of Finance at Atom Computing. He brings more than 25 years of financial leadership to the role with experience in product development analysis, strategic planning, decision analytics, and financial reporting. Kevin previously held financial and operational leadership positions at Intel, most recently as Director of Xeon Engineering Operations and as Senior Controller for Datacenter Product Development. Kevin holds both a bachelor’s degree in economics and an MBA from Willamette University.

Future person blurb

Greg Muhlner is the Vice President of Public Sector at Atom Computing. He has more than 15 years of business development, program management, and sales experience. Before joining Atom Computing, he led a cross-functional sales and contracting team for Rebellion Defense focused on delivering AI-enabled software into the defense and national security mission.  He previously led Navy and USMC Sales at Amazon Web Services. Greg spent 11 years as a Naval Special Warfare (SEAL) Officer, participating in Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) and Operation Iraqi Freedom. He has a master’s degree in International Affairs from the Johns Hopkins School of International Studies and a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Stanford University.

Dr. Kristen Pudenz is Vice President of Research Collaborations at Atom Computing, focusing on external facing programs to accomplish shared scientific goals with our partners and customers. Previously she was Corporate Lead for Quantum at Lockheed Martin, setting the vision and advocating for quantum programs in computing, sensing, and communications across the company. She received her Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California, where she pioneered Quantum Annealing Correction, the first error correcting code demonstrated on a commercial quantum processor.

Dr. Jun Ye is a Fellow of JILA and a Fellow of NIST. Jun is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a Fellow of the American Physical Society, and a Fellow of the Optical Society of America. His research focuses on the frontiers of light-matter interactions and includes precision measurement, quantum physics and ultracold matter, and much more. He has co-authored more than 350 papers and has delivered more than 550 invited talks.

Dr. Bert de Jong is a senior scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab where he leads the computation sciences department and the Applied Computing for Scientific Discovery group. Research in his group encompasses exascale computing, quantum computing and AI for scientific discovery.  de Jong also serves as the deputy director for the National Quantum Initiative Quantum Systems Accelerator (QSA)i and the team director of the multi-institution Accelerated Research for Quantum Computing (ARQC) Team AIDE-QC, both of which are funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Scientific Computing Research program. He is the founding editor-in-chief of Electronic Structure, an IOPscience journal, and a principal editor for Computer Physics Communications. de Jong earned his doctorate in theoretical chemistry at the University of Groningen, and he is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Dr. Eliot Kapit is an associate professor of physics and director of quantum engineering at Colorado School of Mines. His research focus is on quantum information science, particularly on routes to achieve practical and scalable quantum advantage in noisy, near-term hardware. He received his PhD in Physics from Cornell University in 2012.

Rob Hays is CEO & President of Atom Computing. He has more than 20 years of technology leadership, pushing the limits of computing performance and innovation. Before joining Atom Computing, Rob was Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer for Lenovo’s Infrastructure Solutions Group and Vice President and General Manager at Intel where he was responsible for leading Intel’s Xeon processor roadmaps. Rob holds a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from Georgia Tech and two U.S. patents.

Ben Bloom is Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Atom Computing where he leads the technical innovations and engineering teams building atomic array quantum computing technologies based on neutral atoms. Ben has worked on various quantum technologies and founded Atom Computing in January 2018 after realizing neutral atom systems offer the best path to large-scale quantum computing. Ben holds a bachelor’s degree from MIT and PhD in physics from the University of Colorado-Boulder where he helped develop one of the most accurate atomic clocks ever constructed. He has co-authored several scientific publications and holds multiple U.S. patents.

Dror Berman co-founded Innovation Endeavors with Eric Schmidt, former CEO and Executive Chairman of Google/Alphabet Inc., in 2010. Dror invests in early-stage startups that are driving exponential rates of change in their industries — from agriculture and computational biology to fulfillment centers and satellites. He earned an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and a B.S. in Computer Science from Ben-Gurion University.

Ethan Batraski is a Partner at Venrock, leading investments in early-stage companies rooted in deep technology breakthroughs. He focuses primarily in quantum, aerospace, robotics, and infrastructure. Prior to Venrock, Ethan spent 15 years as an executive, founder, and angel investor, with leadership positions at Facebook, Box, and Yahoo!. He holds 16 patents and is a passionate early adopter, space geek, and competitive athlete.

Curtis McKee joined Third Point Ventures in 2021, focusing on investments across the IT landscape. Previously, Curtis was AVP and the Head of Corporate and Investor Development at Arista Networks, where he led Mergers and Acquisitions, including the Big Switch Networks and Awake Security transactions, as well as Ventures and Investor Relations. Prior to Arista, Curtis was an Investor and Corporate Development leader for Intel Capital, concentrating on Cloud, IOT, Enterprise SW, HPC, 5G, Edge/Networking and AI sectors. He also led Operations as Chief of Staff and Technical Assistant for the Datacenter Group's Enterprise Software Division. He joined Intel following the Company’s acquisition of Fulcrum Microsystems, where he was Head of Business Development. He began his career in engineering roles at Broadcom and Marvell. Curtis holds an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University.

Ken Braithwaite was sworn in as the Secretary of the Navy in 2020 and previously served as a U.S. ambassador to Norway. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and, afterward, was commissioned as an ensign in the U.S. Navy. Braithwaite, a one-star rear admiral, left active duty in 1993 and continued his service in the Navy Reserve while holding several executive leadership positions in the healthcare and chemical industries.