Dr Peter Leek has been appointed Chief Scientific Officer of Oxford University spin-out Oxford Quantum Circuits. He will split his time between the Department of Physics at the University of Oxford and OQC.
Dr Leek founded OQC in 2017 and has continued since then to serve as a scientific adviser alongside his continuing academic research at Oxford. As Chief Scientific Officer, Dr Leek will now lead the company’s scientific research operations and spearhead its global research programmes.
Dr Leek has led a group researching superconducting quantum circuits at the University of Oxford since 2012, where OQC's core IP was first invented and developed, and is currently a co-investigator in the UK’s national Quantum Computing and Simulation Hub and a national programme exploring quantum sensors for fundamental physics, Quantum Sensors for the Hidden Sector (QSHS).
‘Taking on the role of Chief Scientific Officer at OQC is both an honour and an exciting opportunity,’ said Dr. Leek. ‘I am looking forward to helping the company develop its technology toward the era of universal fault tolerant quantum computation, while continuing to be able to explore new directions in academic research at the university.’
Dr Phillip Tait heads up innovation and enterprise at the Department of Physics: ‘We work hard to foster a culture of innovation and enterprise at the Department of Physics and Peter’s appointment is a great example of this. OQC was founded on technology developed in the department and it is fantastic to see that Peter will continue to shape the future of the company while remaining a valued member of our research community here at the Department of Physics.’
In taking this role, Dr Leek joins several other colleagues who also jointly manage their research endeavours with roles in the Department of Physics spin-outs they have founded or co-founded notably Professor Henry Snaith FRS as Chief Scientific Officer at Oxford PV, Dr Chris Ballance co-founder and CEO of Oxford Ionics, Dr Ramy Aboushelbaya and Dr Marko von der Leyen, CEO and Chief Technology Officer respectively at Quantum Dice; and Robin Wang, CEO of Living Optics.