Welcome to New NSF-ERC Center for Quantum Networks Staff

June 9, 2023

Welcome to two new staff members in the NSF-ERC Center for Quantum Networks!

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julie de jardins profile

Julie Des Jardins

Director for Diversity and Culture of Inclusion for NSF-ERC Center for Quantum Networks

Julie comes to Tucson from Silicon Valley, where she lived and worked for six years as a consultant. Before this, Julie was a history professor in Boston and New York, focusing on women and gender in American professional fields in STEM. Now she is picking up speed in Tucson as the new NSF-ERC Center for Quantum Networks Director for Diversity and Culture of Inclusion. Julie shared her excitement in this new role saying, "What's great about my new role in the Center for Quantum Networks is that it is a bit of a blank slate.  There hasn't been someone solely devoted to fostering diversity and inclusion at the center. I feel like I get to try some new things I learned from my time consulting in Silicon Valley, but with intellectually curious students, grad students, and young researchers." Julie has a new book being released soon about women and gender in American politics and is continuing to write about gender in professional cultures. When taking a break from writing Julie enjoys pilates. Stop by to welcome her and say hi! Her office is Meinel 501 or you may email her or call her at 520-621-8955.

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Chaohan Cui

Testbed Manager for NSF-ERC Center for Quantum Networks

Chaohan is a 2023 alumnus of Wyant College of Optical Sciences. He received his PhD in optical sciences this May, under the advisement of Prof. Linran Fan. His thesis was titled, "Nonlinear Integrated Photonics for Quantum State Engineering" and focused on quantum state engineering by using nonlinear integrated optics. During his time as a student, Chaohan developed skills to build quantum receivers based on fiber optics. As the new NSF-ERC CQN Tuscon testbed manager he will be building up the quantum memory nodes across the UArizona campus as part of CQN's larger goals for a connected quantum Internet. Chaohan said, "I will dedicate myself to learning cutting-edge techniques from our collaborators and embedding them in the Tucson testbed. I'm excited to join the workforce with friends, colleagues, and professors." Find Chaohan in Meinel 501 to say hello. Or reach out via email!

Welcome to both Julie and Chaohan!