Coordinator
Professional Experience
Prof. Giuseppe Vallone is Associate Professor at the University of Padova since 2019. His research interests are quantum communication, quantum information, photon entanglement and Space applications.
He is currently the coordinator of the European Project QUANGO and the Italian project QUASAR and he was responsible for the University of Padova in several research projects. He is the author of more than 110 scientific papers in international journals.
According to Google Scholar he has >7100 citations and his h-index is 44.
Partner – Padova
Professional Experience
Paolo is a Professor of Physics (Professore Ordinario) at UP, in the Department of Information Engineering. He served as coordinator in several national and international research projects, including the area of high order harmonics generation, space quantum communication, application of laser in Medicine and Industry.
He led the project for the Italian Space Agency (ASI) to design a space terminal for quantum communications, to be mounted in the International Space Station (ISS).
He is also the Group Leader of the QuantumFuture research group, which is active in Quantum Information and Communications.
According to Google Scholar he has >11900 citations and his h-index is 52.
Partner – Padova
Professional Experience
Francesco Vedovato is a researcher at the Department of Information Engineering of the University of Padova. He got his MSc in Physics in 2015 and a Ph.D. degree in Space Science and Technology at the University of Padova in 2019. During his PhD in experimental quantum optics, he focused on the realization of quantum optics experiments in Space collaborating with the Matera Laser Ranging Observatory of the Italian Space Agency.
He has worked since 2015 in the QuantumFuture Group of the Department of Information Engineering at UNIPD. His expertise is on quantum optics, quantum communication through fiber, free-space and satellite channels. He has various peer-review publications in international journals in the area of experimental quantum optics and quantum key distribution.
Partner – ICFO
Group Leader and Coordinator of QSNP
Professional Experience
Valerio Pruneri is an ICREA Industrial Professor, Corning Inc. chair and group leader at ICFO. He is currently coordinating the Quantum Flagship project Quantum Secure Networks Partnership (QSNP), the Spanish initiative related to EuroQCI, related to quantum communications.
Previously he worked in industry, Avanex Corporation, formerly Corning OTI and Pirelli Optical Technologies. He has over 50 granted or pending patent families, 100 invited talks at major international conferences in the field of photonics, optical materials, multifunctional surfaces and quantum technologies, an h-index of 58 (Google Scholar). His research at ICFO has so far contributed to three spin-offs (www.quside.com, www.sixsenso.com and www.luxquanta.com) and numerous industrial collaborations with Corporates.
For his research and technology transfer effort, he received the Philip Morris Prize, the Pirelli Research Fellowship, the IBM Faculty Award, the Paul Ehrenfest Best Paper Award, the Duran Farell Prize and the Corning Inc. Chair.
Partner – ICFO
Postdoctoral researcher at ICFO
Professional Experience
Álvaro Cuevas is an experimental physicist in the field of quantum information and photonics. During his PhD he studied a variety of information propagation phenomena, assisted by entanglement.
Currently he holds a postdoc position in Prof. Valerio Pruneri’s group at ICFO, where he develops practical technologies for quantum-enhanced imaging and communications (Q-MIC, Q-Networks, Complementarias projects).
Partner – ICFO
Postdoctoral researcher at ICFO
Professional Experience
Robin Camphausen is an experimental physicist in the field of optical quantum technology. He obtained his PhD in the Optoelectronics group at ICFO, working on quantum-enhanced imaging protocols that combine entanglement generation and single-photon avalanche diode cameras. Currently he holds a postdoc position at ICFO, where his research focuses on the development of practical quantum technologies for communication and imaging.
Partner – ICFO
Doctoral student at ICFO
Professional Experience
Giacomo Paganini graduated with M.Sc. in Physics of Matter with a specialization in Optics from the University of Padua in April 2023. During his master’s study, he worked in the Optoelectronics Group at ICFO on the development of an entangled photon-pairs source dedicated to quantum communications.
Since July 2023 he is a Ph.D. student in the Optoelectronics Group at ICFO. His Ph.D. will focus on the design and implementation of quantum communication network experiments.
Partner – QUSIDE
Co-founder & CEO
Professional Experience
Carlos Abellan is a co-founder and the Chief Executive of Quside. He got his PhD in the field of quantum technologies from ICFO, where he specialized in the industrialization of this emerging field for encryption and supercomputing applications. He’s an author of +10 scientific articles, a contributor to multiple international conferences and an inventor of various patents. He’s been named MIT Innovator under 35 Europe 2018 and is also active on dissemination of science and technology, with contributions such as a TEDx talk, the Pint of Science festival, or articles for general reach as IEEE Spectrum.
Partner – QUSIDE
Co-founder & CTO
Professional Experience
Domenico Tulli leads the technology strategy, chip integration and space initiatives. He has a PhD in Photonics from ICFO and brings 15+ years’ experience at the forefront of photonic and space innovation. Prior to joining Quside, Domenico was a post-doc at UC Davis and UC Berkeley and then team leader at DAS Photonics, where he led the development of advanced integrated photonic components for space and defense clients.
Partner – QUSIDE
Co-founder & Senior VP Engineer
Professional Experience
Waldimar is Senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers since 2012. PhD from the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (UPV), at the Institute of Telecommunication and Multimedia Research Institute (iTEAM). He has published +20 papers in international journals and conferences and holds 2 patents and was awarded the Ehrenfest Prize for his contribution to fundamental physics experiments.
Partner – QUSIDE
Quantum System Engineer
Professional Experience
Carlotta Ciancico received her M.Sc. in Materials Physics at Universitá Sapienza in Rome in 2015. She then joined the Institute of Photonic Sciences in Barcelona, where she obtained her PhD in 2021 studying quantum emitters coupled to 2-dimensional opto-electronic devices in 2021, under the supervision of Prof. Frank Koppens. She joined Quside in 2022 as Quantum System Engineer and since then has been involved in all aspects of development of quantum communication systems for space applications, using the proprietary Quantum Random Number Generators.
Partner – QUSIDE
Quantum System Engineer
Professional Experience
Julio Sanz holds a PhD in Photonics and has 8+ years of experimental experience in quantum technologies, both in academia (ICFO) and industry (QUSIDE). He has been involved in the design, implementation and testing of quantum simulators with ultracold atoms, optical pulse sources for satellite quantum communications and quantum random number generators for terrestrial and satellite applications. He has thorough technical experience with lasers, optical modulation, spectroscopy, optical design, vacuum technology and rf technology. He has been involved as a technical project management and quantum system engineer to bring customer requirements into products, leading small multidisciplinary engineering teams.
Professional Experience
Miquel Rudé is currently at Quside, where he leads the integrated photonics development. Before joining Quside, Miquel was doing research on integrated optical devices at ICFO (The Institute of Photonic Sciences), in the group of Prof. Valerio Pruneri, a work that led him to obtain a PhD in Photonics in 2016.
He also holds an MsC in Photonics and a degree in Industrial Engineering, both from UPC.
Partner – QUSIDE
Intern
Professional Experience
Blanca Mir graduated in Physics Engineering at UPC (Barcelona) in July 2022. She joined Quside in January 2022 as an intern, and she now works as Photonic Engineer developing Quantum Entropy sources based on photic integrated circuits.
Partner – IOF
Group Leader Quantum Communication Technologies
Professional Experience
Dr. Fabian Steinlechner received his PhD in 2015 from ICFO (Barcelona, Spain) for developing ultra-bright quantum sources for applications in Space. Following a position as Senior Scientist at the IQOQI (Vienna, Austria), in 2018, FS became Attract-group leader of the Quantum Communication Technologies group at Fraunhofer IOF (Jena, Germany) focusing on quantum states of light. His work has resulted in over 30 peer-reviewed scientific articles (citations > 3500, h of 22).
Partner – IOF
PostDoc Quantum Communication Technologies
Professional Experience
Dr. Natasa Pavlovic Tucakovic received her PhD in 2008 from the Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) in Lisbon, Portugal for investigating the advanced modulation formats for ultra-dense wavelength division multiplexing systems. Following positions as System Architect Expert at Nokia Siemens Networks and Coriant companies in Lisbon as well as senior scientist in the Institute of Telecommunications (IT) in Lisbon and Aveiro, NPT is since 2020 PostDoc of the Quantum Communication Technologies group at Fraunhofer IOF with focus on quantum communication field trials over fiber links. Her work in optical communication research has resulted in over 30 peer-reviewed scientific articles.
Partner – IOF
Group Leader of Optomechanical Components
Professional Experience
Erik Beckert received his PhD in engineering in 2005 from TU Ilmenau (Germany). From 2005 to 2019 he has been a group leader for micro assembly and system integration at Fraunhofer IOF. Since 2020 Erik Beckert is a department head at Fraunhofer IOF for “Opto-mechatronic Components and Systems”. Erik Beckert successfully acquired various national and international projects with public and industrial funding.
Partner – IOF
PhD Candidate
Professional Experience
Sakshi Sharma graduated with M.Sc. in Optical Science with specialization in Quantum Optics from the Humboldt University of Berlin in January 2019. Her research aims on development and characterization of quantum communication technologies. During her master’s study, she worked in the Free-Space Optical Systems group at the Fraunhofer-Heinrich Hertz Institute with a free-space quantum communication system.
Since March 2019, she is PhD candidate in the Quantum Communication Group at the Fraunhofer IOF. The focus of her PhD is to overcome challenges of long-distance quantum communication.
Partner – IOF
PostDoc Quantum Communication Technologies
Professional Experience
Dr. Carlos Andres Melo Luna received a Bi-national Doctorate in Physics in 2019 from Bayreuth University-Germany/ Univalve-Colombia with expertise in high-resolution Optical Spectroscopy, quantum technologies, and LIDAR. CAML has participated in the foundation of a research center for Bioinformatics and photonics in Colombia. With expertise in experiments and modeling for quantum noise and single quantum emitters, CML is working since 2021 as a postdoctoral scientist at Fraunhofer IOF in the Quantum Communication Technologies group contributing to and envisioning strategies regarding quantum communication methodologies.
Partner – IOF
Scientific Consultant
Professional Experience
Karin Burger received her PhD in physics in 2017 from LMU (Munich, Germany) for developing microbeam radiation therapy at the Munich Compact Light Source. Having worked as postdoctoral scientist at BAM (Berlin, Germany) in the group of Micro Non-Destructive Testing, she joined the department of Emerging Technologies at Fraunhofer IOF in 2020 supporting a wide range of Quantum-technology research projects with focus on project management, communication, and dissemination.
Partner – TQ
Co-founder and CEO
Professional Experience
Simone Capeto is a member of the Governing Board of euroQuIC, the European Quantum Industry Consortium. Simone, TLC engineer with a PhD in SPace Science and Technology, has experience in Telecommunication Systems, Space technologies, Operations, business innovation, Merge & Acquisition. Before co-funding TQ, Simone was operating within the OSRAM group covering diverse roles from R&D, Engineering and Operations to Strategy.
Partner – TQ
Co-founder of TQ
Professional Experience
Luca Calderaro – He got his master’s degree in Physics in 2015 and a Ph.D. degree in Space Science and Technology (supervisor Prof. Paolo Villoresi) in 2019 with a thesis entitled “Experimental Quantum Communication with GNSS Satellites”. His research interest includes Satellite Quantum Communication and he worked to several experiments realized in collaboration with the Italian Space Agency at the Matera Laser Ranging Observatory. From 2018 to 2021 Luca was Post-Doc researcher at the Department of Information Engineering. He is co-founder of UNIPD’s spinoff ThinkQuantum where he currently works as Quantum System Architect supervising the development of QKD and QRNG systems.
Partner – TQ
Professional Experience
He got his master’s degree in Physics in 2016 and a Ph.D. in Information Engineering (supervisor Prof. Paolo Villoresi) in 2020 with a thesis entitled “Advances in Quantum Communication for Fundamental Studies and Applications”. His research activities are focused on Quantum Communication systems both in fiber and in free-space. He also works in Satellite Quantum Communication experiments at the Matera Laser Ranging Observatory, collaborating with the Italian Space Agency. Since 2020 he is a Post-Doc researcher at the Department of Information Engineering of the University of Padova. He is also co-founder of UNIPD’s spinoff TQ where he contributes to the development of QKD and QRNG systems as scientist and product developer with particular focus in satellite-based systems.
Partner – TQ
Professional Experience
He got his master’s degree in Electronic Engineering in 2014 and a Ph.D. in Information Engineering in 2019 under the supervision of Prof. Paolo Villoresi. His thesis works focused on digital electronic systems for both Quantum Communication and Quantum Random Number Generation applications. Currently, he is a Postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Information Engineering where he also has the role of adjunct professor in digital electronics. He is also co-founder of UNIPD’s spinoff TQ where he contributes to the development of QKD and QRNG systems as scientist and product developer with particular focus on FPGA-based controllers.
Partner – SU
CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) researcher at the LIP6 laboratory of Sorbonne Université.
Professional Experience
Eleni obtained her PhD from Stanford University in 2006, on the security and implementation of differential phase shift QKD protocols. She then worked as a Marie Curie post-doctoral scholar at the Institut d’Optique, where she participated in the European Integrated Project SECOQC on the CV-QKD platform, before joining CNRS in 2009. Her research focuses on quantum cryptography and on the development of photonic resources for quantum networks, and aims at the demonstration of a provable quantum advantage in security or communication efficiency with respect to classical resources. Her work in CV-QKD has led to the first commercial product employing this technology. She has also pioneered work in the practical implementation of quantum cryptographic protocols beyond QKD. She is vice-director of the Paris Center for Quantum Computing (PCQC), steering committee member of the French and Ile-de-France region networks on Quantum Technologies, and elected member of the Board of Stakeholders of the European Commission Public-Private Partnership in Photonics. She also serves as an Associate Editor for Science Advances and IOP Quantum Science and Technology. Her research has been supported by many national and international grants and was awarded a European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant. She has co-authored more than 60 papers in peer-reviewed journals (7200 citations, h-index 36) and has given more than 60 invited talks in international conferences and workshops.
Partner – SU
Postdoctoral researcher at the LIP6 laboratory of Sorbonne University.
Professional Experience
After a PhD at the University of Padova, working on the implementation of discrete-variable protocols both on the laboratory and in the satellite downlink, and a two-year postdoc in the same institution, working on free-space quantum key distribution, with particular interest on the implementation and the study of the free-space ground-to-ground channel, Matteo arrived at Sorbonne University with a Marie Curie postdoctoral fellowship on the study of advanced techniques for continuous-variable quantum-key-distribution (CV-QKD), aiming at the study of the feasibility of this technology on the satellite downlink channel. He is currently working as a postdoctoral researcher on the QUANGO project, focusing on the study of the satellite channel and the implementation of new protocols, and is continuing his study on the free-space channel through some collaborations with the adaptive optics teams at ONERA and the CNR-IFN. He is co-author of more than 10 articles in peer-reviewed journals (480 citations, h-index 10).
Partner – SP
Associate professor. Managing director and co-founder.
Professional Experience
Alessandro Francesconi is Associate Professor of Space Systems at University of Padova; he is an expert of space debris and satellite technologies, with a special focus to the performance
increase of miniature satellites. He has been responsible for several research programs funded by various space agencies, the EU and different European spacecraft manufacturers. He is member of the Permanent Committee of Space Debris of the International Academy of Astronautics, and he has been chairman of the Protection Working Group of the Inter Agency Debris Coordination committee, representing the Italian Space Agency. He is co-founder of Stellar Project and co-inventor of the LaserCube system.
Partner – SP
Lead engineer. Head of space systems
Professional Experience
Francesco Sansone is Lead Engineer at Stellar Project. He has a Ph.D. in Space Science and Technology from the Centre of Studies and Activities for Space (CISAS) “G. Colombo” of the University of Padova. His research and professional activities are in the field of systems and technologies for enhancing the capabilities of small satellites. This includes laser communication terminals and relative navigation systems. He participated to and supported several research and student projects testing critical technologies in low-gravity environment. Francesco is co-inventor of the LaserCube stabilisation and pointing subsystem and lead engineer for the development of the LaserCube product family.
Partner – SP
Optical engineer. Optomechanical systems
Professional Experience
Giulia Tollero: Optical engineer. Graduated in 2020 in Information Engineering from University of Padua, with a Thesis on the Optical Design of Cima’s Ekar telescope. She is currently involved in Optical Communication, especially in the design and in the testing. Giulia also collaborated in the realization of the Optical Payload model in the Quango project.
Partner – SP
Space engineer. Head of optomechanical systems
Professional Experience
Edoardo Birello is in charge of optomechanical systems design and development.
He got its M.Sc. degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Padua. He spent six months at Stellar Project to work on his Master Thesis regarding the design of a Free-Space Optical Communication (FSOC) telescope for small-size satellites.
His professional activities are in the field of compact FSOC terminals, with focus on the optical, robotics, and photonics part, and on their space qualification testing.
Edoardo is the SP responsible for the Optical Payload model within the QUANGO project.
Partner – SIOT
Postdoctoral researcher
Professional Experience
Shubham Gupta has worked as post-doctoral research fellow at Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway in 2020 and Tampere University, Tampere, Finland in 2021. His research interests include security and privacy in 5G communication networks, and wireless communication networks. Currently, he is working as a 3GPP Non-Terrestrial Network researcher in Sateliot, Barcelona.
Partner – UM
Professor and Head of the Department of Communications and Computer Engineering at the University of Malta
Professional Experience
Prof. Johann A. Briffa is a Professor and Head of the Department of Communications and Computer Engineering at the University of Malta. He obtained his PhD in Systems Engineering from Oakland University, Rochester, MI in December 2003. His research interests include information theory and image processing, most recently applied to quantum key distribution and remote sensing respectively. He has made significant contributions to the design and decoding of error correcting codes, particularly for the insertion-deletion channel, including the development of an optimal decoding algorithm for the Davey-MacKay construction. More recently, he has collaborated with Prof. Xuereb on a number of funded projects related to Quantum Communications and Quantum Key Distribution, including SEQUEL and QUANGO.
Partner – UM
Professor Lecturer at the University of Malta
Professional Experience
Prof. André Xuereb has been active in the quantum communication as well as the optomechanics community, where he has made significant contributions to the study of optomechanical arrays, for the past several years. Since September 2014, André has been employed at the University of Malta as a lecturer, and associate professor since 2016, in the field of quantum optics, where he is now growing his own research group. Since 2016 he has started working in experimental quantum information, collaborating with the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI Vienna, Austria), the Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica (INRiM, Italy), and the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR, Italy) to demonstrate the feasibility of in-field entanglement distribution using polarisation-entangled photon pairs. This line of work is now sustained by a research grant funded under NATO Science for Peace and Security programme. Through this work, quantum technologies have been placed on the agenda of the Government of Malta, with the aim of establishing a commercial market for quantum-secured communication in the medium term in Malta. André is very active in the dissemination of science to society at large and the general public. He organises well-attended talks, with 300–350 members of the general public present, delivered by prominent scientists. Past guests included Nobel Laureate William D Phillips, Nobel Laureate Anton Zeilinger, and renowned quantum physicists Vlatko Vedral. These talks generate a large amount of publicity for the University and for basic research in Malta. André is also involved in science policy and holds regular discussions with Maltese policymakers to promote the importance of basic research as a prerequisite for innovation in technology. Since March 2016, he has sat on the council of the Malta Chamber of Scientists. The Government of Malta appointed André Malta’s first Ambassador for Digital Affairs in 2020. According to Google Scholar he has >2100 citations and his h-index is 24.
Partner – ARG
System Engineer in Argotec’s R&D unit
Professional Experience
Graduated in MSC in Space Engineering in 2022 after performing her thesis work in the context of the research group Nuclear4Space, in collaboration with Thales Alenia Space Italia.
During university she worked for 3 years as System Engineer in the propulsion department of Skyward Experimental Rocketry, for the development of the Chimaera hybrid rocket engine: main activities included coordination of design activities and the planning and execution of static fire tests. Currently she is working as System Engineer in Argotec’s R&D unit.
Partner – ARG
Industrial Chemist
Professional Experience
Master’s Degree in Industrial Chemist, he worked as a chemist for the R&D unit of Argotec. He was responsible of the thermal laboratories activities, focused on the assembly, filling and testing of two-phase heat transfer devices that include Heat Pipes, Loop Heat Pipes, and Pulsating Heat Pipes for the Argotec R&D projects. He performed research activities in the two-phase heat transfer field, and tested passive thermal control systems for Ground and Space applications.
Starting from 2018, he worked as project manager in different R&D projects: 2-PHASE, AMC (Additive Manufacturing for CubeSat), ARES4SC, VUS3:ISS4EXPLORATION (SpaceSpinning and Drain Brain 2.0),
Partner – TAS
QKD Product Line Architect in Thales Alenia Space Italia
Professional Experience
Martina is covering the role of QKD Product Line Architect in Thales Alenia Space Italia, currently driving the technical solution for QKD and quantum communication projects, in line with Thales Alenia Space company roadmap, and coordinating R&D proposals in the quantum and optical advanced solutions department.
She graduated in 2017 in electronic engineering for space and defence at University of Rome Tor Vergata and has been worked since then in the satellite industry, gaining experience in the space sector by having worked on commercial payloads and R&D satellite systems design.
Partner – TAS
Project Design Authority for Optical/Quantum Optical (QKD) Space System programs
Professional Experience
Currently Luciano is the Project Design Authority for Optical/Quantum Optical (QKD) Space System programs, and participates to the relevant technical proposal preparation (SAGA, HyDemo, etc.) managing the definition of Optical/Quantum Optical AIV/AIT preliminary activities for the above mentioned programs.
Since early 2016 he started and activity dedicated to satellite optical quantum communication and cryptography, with periodic advancement and internal workshops, leading to the consolidation of the “Competence Center” focalized on “Optical quantum Technology” (QKD, Quantum Computer, Quantum Communication) in Space Telecom in 2020.
During his career he has been responsible for AIV activities and support to payload Architecture Definition & Analysis for both export commercial payloads and institutional and military missions, being recognized as Integraition Validation Verification and Qualification Thales Alenia Space Specialist in 2018.
Partner – TAS
Systems engineer and optical and quantum specialist
Professional Experience
Andrea received his bachelor’s degree in physics in 2015 from La Sapienza University of Rome. He continued his studies by obtaining a master’s degree in Physics of Matter with a specialization in Quantum Optics in 2017 at the same university, and subsequently obtained a PhD in 2021 in Quantum Optics and Information, also at La Sapienza. During his PhD he explored topics related to quantum information theory, in particular studying the special properties of so-called Quantum Walks. He spent four months in Germany, at the University of Paderborn, under the supervision of Professor Christine Silberhorn. In 2021, he worked at Crisel Instruments as an optical specialist in sales and R&D fields. Then, in 2022, he joined Thales Alenia Space as a systems engineer and optical and quantum specialist. He is currently involved in R&D projects in the Quantum Key Distribution area, both in the terrestrial and satellite fields.