Planning Committee

Ezekiel Johnston-Halperin

Professor in the Department of Physics, The Ohio State University

Ezekiel Johnston-Halperin is the Director of the QuSTEAM leadership team. His research focuses on the coherent and quantum properties of spin and magnetic excitations with applications in quantum information including the creation of hybrid quantum systems and quantum transduction.

Visit: physics.osu.edu/people/johnston-halperin.1

Contact: johnston-halperin.1@osu.edu

Russell Ceballos

Director of Innovation, QuSTEAM; Associate Director of Curriculum & Education Partnerships, Chicago Quantum Exchange

Russell Ceballos is a quantum information theorist with a background in open quantum systems and quantum biophysics. Dr. Ceballos has extensive experience in developing and implementing course content and curricular components that serve as a platform for the broadening participation and inclusivity of students from historically underserved and underrepresented communities.

Visit: https://chicagoquantum.org/people/russell-ceballos

Contact: rceballo@uchicago.edu

Bennett Brown

Executive Director, QuSTEAM

Bennett Brown is the Executive Director of the nonprofit organization created to sustain and scale the NSF Convergence Accelerator Phase 2 effort. With degrees in physics from MIT and Iowa, his focus is using evidence-based instruction to broaden participation in technology. He wrote an Advanced Placement computer science course (AP PLTW Computer Science Principles) and led teacher professional development to scale that project-based Python course to more than 1,000 US high schools.

Visit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bennett-brown-21588756/

Contact: bbrown@qusteam.org

David Awschalom

Liew Family Professor in Spintronics and Quantum Information, Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago; Senior Scientist and quantum group leader, Argonne National Laboratory

David Awschalom is also a professor of Physics and 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, imaging, and encryption.

Visit: pme.uchicago.edu/faculty/david-awschalom

Contact: awsch@uchicago.edu

Andrew Heckler

Professor of Physics, The Ohio State University

Prof. Heckler is a professor of physics in the sub-field of Physics Education Research. He studies student difficulties with learning physics at the undergraduate and graduate level, and has engaged in several successful projects iteratively designing and assessing in-class instructional materials and an online learning application.

Visit: asc.ohio-state.edu/heckler.6

Contact: heckler.6@osu.edu

Pei-Cheng Ku

Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan; Associate Chair of Undergraduate ECE Affairs

Pei-Cheng Ku’s research spans classical and quantum semiconductor light sources as well as related optoelectronic devices. For QuSTEAM, he will serve as a local coordinator and work with his colleagues to create a program in quantum information technologies at the University of Michigan.

Visit: ece.engin.umich.edu/personnel/ku-pei-cheng

Contact: peicheng@umich.edu

Raymond E. Samuel

Professor of Biology at North Carolina A&T State University; Associate Director of the NC A&T Quantum Research Center; Director of the Education Working Group of the IBM-HBCU Quantum Center.

Ray serves on the QuSTEAM Leadership Team. Ray is coordinating the engagement of HBCU-based faculty in the development and implementation of the QuSTEAM Phase 2 undergraduate QISE curriculum. He leads the IBM-HBCU Quantum Center Education Working Group, tasked with the design and implementation of interinstitutional HBCU-focused QISE courses to increase the participation of HBCU undergraduate and graduate students in QISE research, education, and outreach. The Education Working Group is also engaged in faculty development initiates to assist HBCU faculty in the process of integrating QISE content across the undergraduate curricula.

Contact: resamuel@ncat.edu

Angela K. Wilson

John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Michigan State University (MSU); Director, MSU Center for Quantum Computing, Science, and Engineering; Associate Dean for Strategic Initiative, MSU College of Natural Sciences

For QuSTEAM, Angela is a subject expert in chemistry and is part of the QuSTEAM leadership team. Her QIS-related research includes quantum dynamics of spin transitions and modeling of quantum coherence. She has worked extensively with students at all stages in quantum research, including more than 100 high school and undergraduate students.

Visit: https://www2.chemistry.msu.edu/faculty/wilson/people/akwilson.htm

Contact: akwilson@msu.edu

Eric Chitambar

Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Eric Chitambar is a researcher in quantum information theory and interested in quantum education. He has developed a senior-level course on quantum communication and teaches it regularly in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at UIUC.

Contact: echitamb@illinois.edu

Discipline-based Education Researchers

Zahra Atiq

Assistant Professor of Practice of Computer Science and Engineering at The Ohio State University

I am working as a discipline-based education researcher on the QuSTEAM project. In this role, I have conducted focus groups with my fellow researchers for the purpose of needs finding. Based on the findings, I have also helped construct a survey for broader dissemination.

Visit: cse.osu.edu/people/atiq.2

Contact: atiq.2@osu.edu

Melanie Cooper

Lappan Phillips Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Michigan State University

Melanie Cooper is a professor of chemistry with research emphasis on the design, enactment and assessment of evidence based learning materials and environments. Her expertise in discipline based education research (DBER) will support the QuSTEAM curriculum development.

Visit: www2.chemistry.msu.edu/faculty/cooper/index.html

Contact: mmc@msu.edu

David Delaine

Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering Education at The Ohio State University

Dr. David A. Delaine provides expertise in engineering education; educational research methods; diversity, equity and inclusion; and university-community partnership.

Visit: theicbllab.com

Contact: delaine.4@osu.edu

Emily Dringenberg

Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering Education at The Ohio State University

Dr. Emily Dringenberg is an educational researcher with a background in engineering. Her team’s research focuses on using qualitative methods to study deeply-held beliefs in engineering (and STEM) spaces. Most relevant to the QuSTEAM project, she is currently the PI on an NSF-funded investigation of smartness as an inequitable cultural practice in undergraduate engineering education.

Visit: http://www.edringenberg.com/

Contact: dringenberg.1@osu.edu

Edward Fletcher

Distinguished Associate Professor in the College of Education and Human Ecology, and Senior Faculty Fellow in the Center on Education and Training for Employment at The Ohio State University

Edward C. Fletcher Jr. is an Education and Human Ecology Distinguished Associate Professor in the College of Education and Human Ecology's Workforce Development and Education program. In his research, he examines students' experiences and engagement in high school STEM academies as a strategy to promote broadening participation of diverse learners in the workforce development talent pipeline. Dr. Fletcher is a part of the discipline-based education research team helping to determine the curricular needs and consideration factors (from the perspectives of faculty, industry, students) for Quantum Information Science program development.

Visit: https://ehe.osu.edu/educational-studies/directory/?id=fletcher.158

Contact: fletcher.158@osu.edu

Eric Kuo

Assistant Professor, Departments of Physics and Curriculum & Instruction, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Eric Kuo is a physics education researcher whose research focuses on problem solving, mathematical reasoning, causal reasoning, and learning attitudes in STEM education. He has designed, implemented, and assessed new instructional approaches for a variety of topics and educational settings and has taught physics at the high school and university levels.

Visit: physics.illinois.edu/people/directory/profile/ekuo

Contact: ekuo@illinois.edu

Christopher Porter

Senior Research Scientist in the Department of Physics at The Ohio State University

Dr. Porter completed his Ph. D. in condensed matter theory with a focus on systems relevant to quantum computation (Josephson junctions). He now focuses on physics education research, with an emphasis on quantum mechanics, and graduate education.

Contact: porter.284@osu.edu

Luisa-Maria Rosu

A former mathematics teacher, elementary through college, Luisa’s interests evolved from teachers’ professional knowledge and continuing education to the quality of teaching and the evaluation of STEM programs in higher education. As a Research Associate at I-STEM, Luisa participated in the planning and development of the evaluation of iFoundry, a College of Engineering curriculum incubator seeking to transform undergraduate education for engineers. She also conducted the evaluation for the Strategic Instructional Initiative Program (SIIP) in the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 

Contact: rosu@illinois.edu

Subject Matter Experts

Sarah Adjei-Fremah

Assistant Professor Biology - Genetics and Microbiology, Winston-Salem State University

Contact: adjeifremahs@wssu.edu

Timothy Akers

Assistant Vice President for Research Innovation & Advocacy

Contact: timothy.akers@morgan.edu

Yuri Alexeev

Principal Project Specialist at Argonne National Laboratory

Dr. Yuri Alexeev is a Principal Project Specialist at the Argonne National Laboratory, a Senior Scientist at the University of Chicago, and a Principal Investigator in the national quantum center Q-NEXT. His research involves the development of quantum computing algorithms and numerical simulators of quantum systems using high-performance computing on next-generation high-performance supercomputers.

Visit: anl.gov/profile/yuri-alexeev

Contact: yuri@alcf.anl.gov

Monica E. Allen

Assistant Professor in the Department of Leadership Studies and Adult Education at North Carolina A&T State University

Dr. Monica E. Allen provides expertise in design of academic programs and curriculum; diversity, equity & inclusion; and academic success and persistence of students from marginalized groups.

Contact: meallen1@ncat.edu

Mohd Anwar

Professor of Computer Science at North Carolina A&T State University

Dr. Anwar directs Quantum Computing Research Center <QC|RC> and Human-Centered AI (HC-AI) Lab at NC A&T. His expertise covers AI/Machine Learning as well as use-inspired research in Quantum Computing. His research program has been supported by various grants from NSF, DoD, NSA, and EPA.

Visit: anwar.ncat.edu

Contact: manwar@ncat.edu

Daniel Appelö

Associate Professor in the Department of Computational Mathematics, Science & Engineering and the Department of Mathematics at Michigan State University

Daniel Appelö is a numerical analyst and his research group pursue the development, analysis and implementation of fast, stable and accurate numerical algorithms for approximation of differential equations arising in engineering and natural sciences. The Appelö group is interested in forward and inverse problems governed by waves and is also developing and analyzing computational tools for quantum computing applications within the Tough Errors Are No Match (T.E.A.M) Optimizing the Quantum Compiler for Noise Resilience project.

Visit: danielappelo.com

Contact: appeloda@msu.edu

Alexei Bazavov

Assistant Professor at the Department of Computational Mathematics, Science and Engineering and Department of Physics and Astronomy at Michigan State University.

Alexei Bazavov is a theoretical physicist with expertise in quantum field theory, in particular, a non-perturbative approach to strong interactions called lattice QCD. He works on applications of quantum computing to lattice QCD and quantum algorithm development. He has developed and taught a graduate level course on quantum computing and quantum algorithms at the Department of Computational Mathematics, Science and Engineering at MSU.

Visit: cmse.msu.edu/directory/faculty/alexei-bazavov

Contact: bazavov@msu.edu

Hannes Bernien

Assistant Professor in the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago

Hannes Bernien is a subject matter expert in quantum information science. He is particularly passionate about including quantum experiments in undergraduate education.

Visit: bernienlab.com

Contact: bernien@uchicago.edu

Simeon Bogdanov

Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Simeon Bogdanov studies the interaction between light and matter at the nanoscale, with applications in integrated quantum photonics. He is currently teaching a new course focusing on quantum technology that he developed for senior and graduate students.

Visit: simeonbogdanov.com

Contact: bogdanov@illinois.edu

Justin Bonny

Assistant Professor of Psychology at Morgan State University

Dr. Bonny's research interests focus on how individual differences in informal activities (e.g., hobbies) and mathematics ability are reflected in cognitive and social processes and can be altered using technology.

Visit: https://www2.morgan.edu/college_of_liberal_arts/departments/psychology/our_faculty/staff/justin_bonny.html

Contact: justin.bonny@morgan.edu

Mark Byrd

Professor in the Department of Physics at Southern Illinois University

Mark Byrd is a Professor of Physics at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois.  He received his PhD under E.C. George Sudarshan and Duane Dicus at the University of Texas at Austin.  He then held Postdoctoral positions at UT Austin, University of Toronto, and Harvard University.  He is the recipient of an NSF CAREER Award, as well as numerous other grants for research in quantum computing and quantum error correction.   In addition to quantum error prevention methods, he also studies the evolution of open quantum systems and group theory in quantum mechanics.  In addition to articles on quantum computing, error correction and group theory in quantum mechanics, he is the author of the wikibook: Quantum Computation and Quantum Error Correction, https://www2.physics.siu.edu/qunet/wiki/index.php/Quantum_Computation_and_Quantum_Error_Prevention 

Contact: mbyrd@physics.siu.edu

Jan-Jo Chen

Professor in the Department of Computing, Information, and Mathematical Sciences, and Technologies at Chicago State University

Dr. Jan-Jo Chen is a Professor at Dept. of Computing, Information, and Mathematical Sciences and Technology, previously named Dept. of Mathematics and Computer Science, at Chicago State University. He has been acting as Chair of Undergraduate Computer Science Committee and evaluating curricula as a part of the University and College committees at CSU. Dr. Chen has expertise in computer science specializing in machine learning, deep learning, concurrent and parallel processing, supercomputing, and developing content for undergraduate quantum computing courses. He will work to help create and implement undergraduate modules in QISE for computer science focused curricula.

Contact: jchen20@csu.edu

Andrew Christlieb

Professor, Department of Computational Mathematics, Science and Engineering; MSU Foundation Professor, Department of Mathematics

In 2006, Christlieb joined the mathematics department at Michigan State University. In 2010, he was promoted to associate professor and in 2014 he was promoted to professor. In 2015, he was named an MSU Foundation Professor. Christlieb has an active research group, focusing on multi-scale modeling, high order numerical methods and sub-linear lossy compression algorithms. He is currently advising 2 postdocs and 6 students.

Contact: christli@msu.edu

Kathy Cousins-Cooper

Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at North Carolina A&T State University

Kathy Cousins-Cooper's research area is in the field of mathematics education and more specifically, she has studied the effect of various instructional models on student performance and how to improve student performance in mathematics.

Visit: https://www.ncat.edu/employee-bio.php?directoryID=1499130158

Contact: cousinsk@ncat.edu

Parag Deotare

Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at University of Michigan

Parag B. Deotare joined the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in January 2016. The Excitonics and Photonics lab that he directs is involved in collaborative interdisciplinary research to bridge knowledge and cutting-edge approaches from the fields of photonics, excitonics and material science. His group focuses on understanding and manipulating excitonic energy transport in low dimensional materials for applications in data communication, assured electronics and sensing. He is a recipient of the Young Investigator Award from US Air Force Office of Scientific Research, 2017 and the HKN Professor of the year award, 2017 at University of Michigan. He has authored/co-authored 40 journal manuscripts and has contributed to more than 50 conference presentations. Prior to joining University of Michigan, he was a postdoctoral associate at the Organic and Nanostructured Electronics Laboratory (ONELab) at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Parag received his BE degree in Electrical Engineering from University of Pune, India in 2004, MS degree from Texas A&M University in 2007 and Ph.D from Harvard University in 2012.

Visit: https://optoexcitonics.engin.umich.edu

Contact: pdeotare@umich.edu

Kevin Finelli

Adjunct Professor in the Division of Nursing, Allied Health, Life and Physical Sciences at the University of DC Community College

Dr. Finelli has previously worked in the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider studying properties of the top quark. He now focuses on undergraduate education, primarily teaching physics and chemistry.

Contact: kevin.finelli@udc.edu

Giulia Galli

Liew Family Professor of Molecular Engineering and Professor of Chemistry at the University of Chicago

Giulia Galli’s group develops theoretical and computational methods to predict and engineer material and molecular properties from first principles, based on quantum mechanical calculations. In particular the group research activity is focused on problems relevant to quantum technologies, including the search for optimal materials for the realization of qubits in solid-state environments.

Visit: galligroup.uchicago.edu

Contact: gagalli@uchicago.edu

Daniel Gauthier

Professor of Physics and Electrical and Computer Engineering at The Ohio State University; and co-founder of ResCon Technologies, LLC and Verilock.id.

Daniel Gauthier’s research in quantum information science focuses on quantum communication methods.  He holds the world record for quantum secure key distribution rate over metropolitan distance scales.  He is also working with Prof. Paul Kwiat at the University of Illinois on developing quantum key distribution systems on mobile platforms, such as drones, and Earth-to-Space quantum links for entanglement distribution swapping, teleportation and dense coding.

Visit: physics.osu.edu/people/gauthier.51

Contact: gauthier.51@osu.edu