Overview
Finland, the land of a thousand lakes, Reindeer and Santa Claus is also well known globally in the scientific community in the areas of low temperature physics and associated topics. Finland has been a leader in low temperature research and has steadily built an end to end eco-system concerning cryogenics and other such subjects over the past 5 decades.
Due to this expertise, Finland is now the European leader in research and development of advanced quantum computing equipment, including superconducting and photonics technologies. Finland’s VTT National Center of Research houses a commercial grade quantum computer, that will be scaled to 50 qubits by end of 2024. The HELMI, as the quantum computer is called, is made in Finland by Finnish organisations and aims to match the performance and ability of other large global quantum computing players. Finland, currently also boasts of an end-to-end eco-system comprising of companies and researchers engaged in building commercial grade cryostats, quantum system integrators, chip fabrication facilities, software & firmware developers, sub-system manufacturers, etc. This has given the nation of 5.5 million people an unparallel edge over other nations in the race to quantum supremacy. Other than superconducting technologies, Finland is also a top destination for research and development in semiconducting, photonics, hybrid quantum computing and other areas such as simulations in the quantum realm.
Business Finland, a government of Finland arm, has very recently launched a dedicated quantum campaign that aims to help researchers and start-ups achieve their objectives in various fields of quantum technology. The campaign, spread over 2 years and with a budget of USD 15m is destined to be a game changer for the Finnish quantum eco-system.
Singapore and Finland share common goals and objectives in the race to being a quantum enabled nation and it is only natural that the 2 nations and their eco-systems join forces to create a larger global impact.
We therefore invite your august presence over a dinner reception, preceded by a panel discussion on how Singapore and Finland can work together to create a lasting force in the age of Quantum technologies.
Programme:
6:00pm - 6:02pm: Welcome & Introductions
6:02pm - 6:10pm: Welcome words by Ambassador of Finland H.E. Antti Vänskä
6:10pm - 6:20pm: Presentation on Business Finland’s Quantum campaign and an overview of the current eco-system by Business Finland representative, Mr. Aasheesh Chudasama (10 minutes)
6:20pm - 715pm: Panel discussion with:
- Panelist: Mr. Raghunath Koduvayur
- Panelist: Dr. Pekka Pursula
- Panelist: Piia Konstari
- Panelist: Dr Manas Mukherjee
- Panelist: Dr. Himadri Majumdar
- Moderator: Dr. José Ignacio Latorre (Director, Centre for Quantum Technologies)
9:00pm: End of Program:
Date: 22 March 2023
Time: 5:00pm - 7:00pm
Venue: 32 Carpenter Street, Singapore 059911
Speakers' Profiles:
Mr. Aasheesh Chudasama (Business Finland)
Aasheesh, leads the innovation collaboration portfolio for ASEAN + India region and is responsible for bilateral and multilateral collaborations in fields of advanced technologies such as quantum computing and technologies, High Performance computing, 5G advanced and 6G, etc.
Mr. Raghunath Koduvayur (IQM Quantum Computers)
IQM Quantum Computers is one of the hottest European startups (founded in 2018), that has already become the European leader at a record time. With over € 200 million capital raised and over € 50 million+ in contracts, IQM is also one of the best run businesses. Raghu is responsible for running the Asia Pacific Business, P&L, and also lead the global marketing including, the brand, digital marketing, fundraising, events, analyst relations, and PR.
Dr Pekka Pursula (VTT Technical Research Center)
Dr Pekka Pursula received a doctoral degree in technical physics from Aalto University, in 2009. He has a long career at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, on several research and management positions. Currently he is the Research Manager of Microelectronics and Quantum Technology Research Area, where also the first Finnish Quantum Computer is being developed.
Piia Konstari (Lead, Microelectronics and Quantum technology)
Piia Konstari is Lead in Microelectronics and quantum technology at VTT with a passion in turning research into business. She is also the operations lead for BusinessQ, the quantum business ecosystem in Finland. Piia has a background in sales both from VTT as well as from the semiconductor industry. Piia holds a degree in MSc (Tech) in Electronics and Electrical Engineering from the Technical University of Helsinki.
Dr Manas Mukherjee (National Quantum Fabless Foundry)
Dr Manas Mukherjee, Director of the National Quantum Fabless Foundry (NQFF), IMRE/A*STAR and a Principal Investigator at the Centre for Quantum Technologies, National University of Singapore, has 20+ years of experience in quantum technologies. He was the recipient of the Lise-Meitner Fellowship (2005-2007) and the International Max-Planck Fellowship (2010-2012). As the founding director of the NQFF, he is overseeing the development of various quantum devices using micro and nano-fabrication techniques related to superconducting qubits, ion traps qubits and photonic integrated circuits. His primary research interest is the development of ion trap based quantum information processors and the use of similar technologies for sensing and simulation of physical environment.
Dr. Himadri Majumdar (SemiQon)
Himadri Majumdar is the Co-founder and chief executive of SemiQon. SemiQon builds silicon-based quantum processors for the million-qubit era. Prior to co-founding SemiQon he was the Program Manager for Quantum Technologies at VTT. In his role he helped companies in quantum technology domain - especially fabless start-ups - to utilize VTT’s R&D expertise and infrastructure in quantum technologies. Himadri was also a founding member of the Finnish Quantum technologies ecosystem, InstituteQ, and led the business arm of the ecosystem, BusinessQ. His ambition is to see SemiQon, and quantum technology in general, becoming a Finnish and global success story through cooperation and strategic partnerships. Himadri has 20 years of experience in innovation and innovation management and is also trained as an experimental physicist.
Moderator's Profile:
Dr. José Ignacio Latorre (Director, Centre for Quantum Technologies)
José Ignacio Latorre is Director of the Centre for Quantum Technologies (CQT) and Professor in the Department of Physics at the National University of Singapore (NUS). He is also the lead PI for Singapore’s National Quantum Computing Hub, established as a collaboration between CQT, A*STAR’s Institute of High Performance Computing and the National Supercomputing Centre Singapore. A leading figure in particle physics and quantum information, José Ignacio joined CQT, NUS in July 2020 from the University of Barcelona, where he had been heading a research group at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center to build the first quantum processor in Spain. José Ignacio is also Chief Researcher at the Quantum Research Centre in the Technology Innovation Institute in the United Arab Emirates and founder of Qilimanjaro, a startup in quantum computing.
