Leadership

DIRECTORS AND MANAGERS

David Awschalom

Q-NEXT Director

Q-NEXT Director David Awschalom is a senior scientist and quantum information science group leader in the Materials Science Division at Argonne National Laboratory. He is also the Liew Family professor at the University of Chicago, the vice dean for research and infrastructure at the university’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, and the director of the Chicago Quantum Exchange. His research in quantum spintronics involves understanding and controlling the spins of electrons, ions and nuclei for fundamental studies of quantum systems, as well as potential applications in computing, communication, imaging and encryption.

Jennifer Dionne

Q-NEXT Deputy Director

Q-NEXT Deputy Director Jennifer Dionne is the senior associate vice provost of research platforms/shared facilities at Stanford University and an associate professor of materials science and engineering and, by courtesy, of radiology. She is a Chan Zuckerberg Biohub investigator and an associate editor of Nano Letters. She received her B.S. degrees in physics and systems science and mathematics from Washington University, her Ph.D. in physics at the Caltech, and her postdoctoral training in chemistry at UC Berkeley. A pioneer of nanophotonics, Dionne has been recognized with the Alan T. Waterman Award, an NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, a Moore Inventor Fellowship, the Materials Research Society Young Investigator Award, and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, and was featured on Oprah’s list of “50 Things that will make you say ‘Wow’!”. Dionne is co-founder of Pumpkinseed, a company enabling de novo protein sequencing. She frequently collaborates with artists to convey the beauty of science to the public.

Supratik Guha

Chief Technology Officer

Supratik Guha led the Center for Nanoscale Materials, a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science user facility, from 2015 to 2019. Before joining Argonne and the University of Chicago in 2015, he spent 20 years at IBM Research, where he last served as the director of physical sciences. At IBM, he pioneered the materials research that led to IBM’s high-dielectric-constant metal gate transistor, one of the most significant developments in silicon microelectronics technology. He was also responsible for initiating or significantly expanding IBM’s R&D programs in silicon photonics, quantum computing, sensor-based cyberphysical systems and photovoltaics.

Phil Smith

Technology Integration Manager

Phil Smith’s experience includes development and implementation of innovation strategy for customers ranging from Fortune 500 businesses to technology startups, universities and government. His work spans research and development planning, building teams and establishing partnerships, and securing resources to catalyze high-impact technology programs. Smith has worked across multiple verticals, including advanced materials and manufacturing, chemicals, renewable and alternative energy, and health technology. He holds a Ph.D. in materials physics from The Ohio State University.

Elizabeth O'Connor

Chief Operations Officer

Elizabeth “Betsy” O’Connor is responsible for all operational aspects of Q-NEXT, including financial operations, project management integration, procurement, property, environmental, safety, health and quality assurance, communications, security, and oversight of the Argonne Quantum Foundry construction. With more than 30 years of experience at Argonne in both the centralized financial organization and the project management organization, Betsy has a Bachelor of Arts degree in accounting from Benedictine University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago Executive Program. She is a certified public accountant, a certified management accountant, and a project management professional.

Helen Taaffe

Project Integration Manager

Helen Taaffe, the Q-NEXT project integration manager, is a project control specialist in the Project Management Organization at Argonne National Laboratory. She has held project management and project controls roles professionally since 2009 and at Argonne National Laboratory since 2018. At Argonne, she has overseen project controls on some of the lab’s most prominent projects, including the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility-3. She received her bachelor’s in civil, structure and environmental engineering from Trinity College Dublin and her master’s in project management from University College Dublin.