Photonic Inc., a global leader in distributed quantum computing, today announced that its Founder and Chief Quantum Officer, Dr. Stephanie Simmons, has been included in the Quantum 100, a major global initiative as part of the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology (IYQ 2025). The Quantum 100 celebrates the people advancing quantum science worldwide and will be featured in the UNESCO Final Report and at the IYQ Closing Ceremony.
“It’s an incredible honor to be recognized among such an inspiring group of global quantum leaders, for efforts accelerating the path to commercially useful quantum computing,” said Dr. Simmons. “This recognition reflects the collaborative progress our field is making – across science, engineering, and policy – toward realizing practical quantum technologies and scalable quantum systems with the potential to drive profound societal impact and economic growth.”
Through her research, hardware innovation, and leadership in both industry and policy, Dr. Simmons is advancing scalable, fault-tolerant quantum computing. At Photonic, she is pioneering a modular, distributed quantum architecture that enables efficient quantum error correction (QLDPC) and is natively compatible with existing data center and telecom infrastructure – a breakthrough that moves the field closer to real-world, globally connected quantum systems.
Dr. Simmons’ academic journey has included the University of Waterloo, University of Oxford, and University of New South Wales, where her research earned Physics World’s Top Ten Breakthroughs in both 2013 and 2015. At Simon Fraser University (SFU), where she continues to serve as an Associate Professor, Dr. Simmons identified a qubit modality – silicon color centers – that is uniquely suited for large-scale, distributed quantum systems, laying the foundation for Photonic’s innovations.
In addition, Dr. Simmons co-chairs Canada’s Quantum Advisory Council, represents Canada in NATO’s Transatlantic Quantum Community, and holds a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Silicon Quantum Technologies. She continues to mentor researchers, using her experience in academia and business to advance quantum computing toward practical, global-scale applications.
Dr. Simmons also joined leading technology innovators in Paris to speak at the UNESCO IYQ25 Opening Ceremony.