Today's guest is Professor Michael Biercuk, Michael is a quantum physicist, innovator, and Director of the Quantum Control Laboratory at the University of Sydney and founder of Q-CTRL one of Australia's first Quantum Computing Startups.
Professor Michael Biercuk
We talk Yoctonewtons, Quantum Computing, transitioning from Professor/Researcher to entrepreneur and a big announcement.

Michael is a quantum physicist, innovator, Director of the Quantum Control Laboratory at the University of Sydney and Chief Investigator, ARC Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems.

Michael is also the founder and CEO of Q-CTRL, a quantum technology company. Full disclosure Main Sequence Ventures was one of the original lead investors in Q-CTRL.

Michael was educated in the United States, earning his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and his Master’s and Doctorate degrees from Harvard University.

He held a research fellowship at the US National Institute of Standards and Technology and has served as a consultant to US Defence Agency DARPA, helping to steer government venture investments in advanced technology.

Michael is probably one of the most public & outspoken researchers turned Entrepreneurs in Australia he has spoken at TEDxSydney and appeared on ABC's Q&A & The Drum.

What is a yoctonewton and how do you measure it, given it had never been measured before how would you know you had measured it and what would you compare it to? Its is like measuring the power of a light to move.

You built your own experimental Quantum computer, I have seen it in the lab and it is a thing of engineering beauty.

What are the basic building blocks for a quantum computer? How do you start?

How does it get its instructions, whats the code stack look like? How does it store the results? 

Presumably, we have to write code differently to work in Probabilistic vs deterministic?

Qubits vs Bits - what's the difference? 

How do you build a machine that can create a Qubit what’s the media and method (Silicon, Photonics?) and how do you get multiple Qubits to work together in the one machine? 

Tell us about Decoherence and Quantum Control?

What are the key challenges with quantum computing and what is QCTRL doing to solve these challenges?

What environmental conditions do we need to make these work? 

Do you envisage room temperature quantum, does physics prevent this & does room temperature really matter?

There are a few different types of Quantum computers, tell us about the different types and how they differ? 

Tell us about some of the early quantum applications? chemistry, physics, finance? 

Interim markets, Quantum Sensing, timekeeping, encryption?

What do investors need to know about quantum computing?

You have been a researcher for a reasonable chunk of your career, how have you found the transition to entrepreneur?

You have a love affair with watches, why & is there anything else mechanical that you love?

What do you disagree with the rest of your quantum researchers?