From CSIRO, to Q-CTRL, to Quantum Australia, here are six standout women changing the face of emerging technology in our nation.
When asked to describe what Quantum Australia does and is, the organisation’s CEO Petra Andren likens it to the connective tissue that binds research and industry together. The goals is to accelerate application and commercialisation, she says, and to push quantum from a lab out into the real world.
AI may be what has everyone talking now, Andre says, but looking forward into the coming decades, quantum may be equally transformative.
“The future will not be AI or quantum, but AI and quantum working together to unlock new capabilities, productivity gains and industries that are difficult to achieve with either technology alone,” Andren tells Forbes Australia.
Our nation has an opportunity to play widely in that arena, according to Andren. But it is essential that the real-world application of this technology, reflects the reality of the real world.
“Firstly, we must focus on translating scientific leadership into commercial success, industry adoption, and real-world impact,” says Andren.
“Secondly, we must ensure that diverse voices are baked into the growth of this industry right from the start.”
Petra Andren
“Diverse voices must be represented in the research labs, startups, boardrooms and investment decisions that will help determine not only who benefits from the quantum revolution, but how it is built.”
There are numerous women already spearheading this charge, the Swedish-educated former CEO of Cicada Innovations notes. They are working to transform healthcare, advanced materials, energy and cybersecurity through the underpinning technological advancement that quantum brings about.
We reached out to five Australian quantum trailblazers to understand which sectors they see quantum disrupting first, and what they wish other people knew about their work.
Amanda Jones
Communications Lead Q-CTRL
Q-CTRL is tackling one of quantum technology’s biggest barriers: noise and instability in quantum hardware, which prevents quantum systems from achieving their full potential.
“Transport and logistics is one area with particularly strong potential, from optimising complex supply chains and travel timetables through to improving efficiency, safety and sustainability across large-scale operations,” says Jones.
Jones says that quantum computers also have great potential to advance the pharmaceutical and energy sectors, due to their increased accuracy nand efficiency that far extends past what classical computing can achieve.
“The potential to simulate molecules and materials could accelerate the discovery of new medicines, batteries, and advanced materials. Beyond that, I’m closely watching developments in finance, cryptography, and quantum machine learning,” says Jones.
Cassandra Chua
Senior Quantum Scientist Emergence Quantum
Emergence Quantum is developing cryogenic hardware and platform-agnostic control architectures that help enable quantum computing, advanced computing systems and next-generation sensing technologies to operate at scale.
“Long before we see powerful quantum computers, there will be technologies that spin out from the quantum lab that are going to have immediate impact across conventional computing,” Sydney-based quantum scientist Cassandra Chua tells Forbes Australia.
Quantum computing doesn’t make every problem easy, she notes, and the challenges that are solvable are not always obvious.
“Figuring out what those problems are is part of the fun. Our ability to find problems that are well suited to quantum likely has to wait, until we can realise a machine of sufficient scale.”
Astri Cornish
Quantum Algorithm Engineer, IBM Quantum
At IBM Quantum, Astri Cornish works within a global effort to build useful quantum computers, software and algorithms that can help researchers and industry tackle problems that traditional computing cannot efficiently solve.
Computers capable of advanced simulations, optimisation, machine learning and differential equations may emerge over the next year, Cornish says.
“These four computational approaches for nearer-term quantum advantage are being explored in industries like aerospace, electronics, healthcare and life sciences, chemicals and materials, energy, automotive, and financial services.”
What she wishes people knew is that quantum computers aren’t just faster, they are also more expansive and multidimensional than classical computers.
“Large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computers with hundreds or thousands of logical qubits, running hundreds of millions to billions of operations, could accelerate time and cost efficiencies in fields such as drug development, materials discovery, chemistry, and optimisation,” says Cornish.
Zuzana Leova
PhD Researcher in Quantum Machine Learning and Biotechnology, The University of Melbourne
Zuzana Leova combines artificial intelligence with emerging quantum computing techniques to develop next-generation tools capable of analysing and mapping highly complex biological systems. Modern biological datasets are becoming so vast and complex that traditional computing methods struggle to extract meaningful insights without losing critical information.
“A couple of years ago my answer would probably be very short because there is one industry that has been transformed first and has been transforming for a while – cybersecurity,” the Melbourne-based PhD says.
“The landscape has evolved incredibly fast. If we look at today, security remains foundational, while industries built on complex decision-making, like supply chain logistics, manufacturing, and financial risk management are actively adopting ‘quantum-inspired’ algorithms just to get a head start.”
It is chemistry, however, that Leova sees the most traction.
“Many complex molecules simply cannot be simulated on traditional computers. Quantum systems, on the other hand, do this natively,” she says. “People will feel it through access to better, highly targeted drugs and treatments that are more efficient and less invasive for the body; imagine new alternatives to modern chemotherapy.
Don’t expect quantum computers to be available in everyone’s homes in the future, the way personal computers are, Leova warns.
“We will see cheaper, more durable materials that enable clean energy systems, faster global logistics, smarter sensing, OR the accelerated development of next-generation AI tools.”
Dr Jessica Jein White
Computational Chemist, Quantum Researcher and Science Communicator, CSIRO
Dr Jessica White works at the intersection of quantum chemistry research and public engagement, exploring how emerging quantum computing platforms can help solve complex chemistry challenges while also making quantum science more accessible to students, teachers and the broader community.
“Drug discovery, materials science, chemistry, mining, energy, and advanced manufacturing are all strong candidates [for immediate disruption] because they rely on understanding and optimising systems that are often beyond the reach of today’s computational methods,” says Perth-based chemist Jein White.
Quantum computers will work alongside classical ones, she notes, and there is great opportunity at the intersection of quantum, AI, and high-performance computing.
The real opportunity lies in combining quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and high-performance computing to create entirely new ways of solving problems.
“Quantum is not only for physicists. We need chemists, biologists, engineers, computer scientists, mathematicians, educators, policy experts, and creative thinkers. The most exciting innovations will likely come at the intersections between disciplines, where diverse perspectives can apply quantum technologies to real-world challenges we haven’t even imagined yet.
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