Quantum Motion has appointed Professor Alberto Sangiovanni-Vincentelli as chair.
The professor, of the University of California in Berkeley, has significant experience in the electronics design industry.
Quantum Motion, which is building a scalable and manufacturable quantum processor, recently reported an oversubscribed £8m fundraise.
A founder of both Cadence Design Systems and Synopsys – the two industry leaders in Electronic Design Automation – he has also served in many advisory roles, ranging from Intel, HP and ST microelectronics in the semiconductor industry to BMW, General Motors and UTC in systems. He chaired UltraSoc from 2017 until its acquisition by Siemens in June 2020.
Prof. Sangiovanni-Vincentelli replaces outgoing Chair, Dr Manjari Chandran-Ramesh, who remains a director of the company. During her tenure, the company spun out of Oxford University and UCL and became the first UK quantum computing hardware company to raise Series A investment.
Professor Sangiovanni-Vincentelli, who has authored over 1,000 papers and received numerous academic and industry awards, said: “It is clear that making perfect systems from noisy components will be the key to realising a useful quantum computer.
“However, this idea on its own is not enough, execution will be critical. The Quantum Motion team has the competence needed to deliver a scalable silicon architecture but, as importantly, it has the focus to realise it in a manufacturable process.”
Dr Chandran-Ramesh commented: “It has been an absolute pleasure to work with the Quantum Motion team and to help grow the business from start-up to a successful, over-subscribed series A round backed by high-quality investors.
“I am proud to be handing over to Prof. Sangiovanni–Vincentelli, who has exceptional experience in this area, and I look forward to working with him and the team as we start the next chapter of this exciting journey.”
Prof. John Morton, founder of Quantum Motion comments: “We would like to thank Dr Chandran-Ramesh for her excellent chairmanship over the past two successful years and are delighted to be welcoming Prof Sangiovanni-Vincentelli on board.
“He shares our vision for leveraging silicon to produce truly scalable quantum processors and brings unique insights from his experience in building world-leading companies in semiconductor IC design.”