THE TEAM

Leadership Team

Alexander Jurgens, Electrical Engineering

Alex is an EECS PhD student at the Narang Lab. He completed his BSc in Physics and MSc in Quantum Engineering at ETH Zürich in Switzerland and worked at IBM and the German Aerospace Center before joining UCLA in 2024. In his research, Alexander focusses on Quantum Algorithms and Learning Theory as well as optimisation techniques and Machine Learning. On the rare occasion that he quantum tunnels outside the office he enjoys water sports, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and all things Italian in nature.

Lucas Telcot, Computer Science

Lucas is a Computer Science PhD student in Prof. Cho-jui Hsieh’s group. His research focuses on classical optimizers for variational quantum algorithms. But broadly he is interested in the intersection of quantum mechanics and machine learning, both for automated sciences applications and understanding the fundamental limits of learning.

Nicholas Dirnegger, Electrical Engineering

Nicolas received a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering at ETH Zurich, Switzerland in 2022 and a Master of Science in Physics at the University of California, Los Angeles in 2023. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Electrical Engineering in the NarangLab. Currently, his main research focus is on quantum sensing and quantum networks. He also has research interests in quantum error correction and quantum computation. Feel free to reach out if you want to go surfing!

Luca Niu, Physics & Mathematics

Luca, a third-year undergraduate student, is pursuing a double major in Physics and Mathematics. Presently, he serves as a research assistant in the group led by Professor Hongwen Jiang. With a keen interest the intersection of condensed matter physics and quantum information science, Luca is particularly fascinated by the potential of quantum dot qubit and topological quantum computing. He looks forward to engaging with fellow students and expanding his knowledge within this quantum computing.

Cody Fan, Electrical Engineering

Cody received a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and a Bachelor of Science in Physics at the University of California, Los Angeles in 2022. He is currently pursuing a PhD under the guidance of Professor Chee Wei Wong. Currently, his main research focus is to build quantum transducers between microwave and optical photons and to characterize silicon defect qubits. He also has research interests in quantum control and variational quantum algorithms. Feel free to reach out if you want some research paper recommendations or want to go thrift shopping!

Victor Yu, Electrical Engineering

Victor is a first-year undergraduate Electrical Engineering student. He is currently interested in learning more about quantum error correction and the various physical realizations of quantum computers. He enjoys talking with others who are also passionate about quantum computing and introducing newcomers to the field.

Executive Leadership

William Laderer, Chemistry & Biochemistry

Will is a Chemistry PhD student in the Alexandrova group at UCLA. He graduated from Stony Brook University in New York where he received a B.S in Geology. His research encompasses electronic structure analysis of solids and molecules. Particular systems of interest are topological materials, which might prove to be useful in the field of catalysis.

Professor Mark Gyure, Electrical Engineering

In addition to coordinating the day-to-day activities of the CQSE, Gyure’s research is focused on the theory and simulation of solid-state quantum information processing devices and architectures, specifically electrostatically-defined semiconductor quantum dots. He and collaborators at UCLA and HRL Laboratories, LLC in Malibu have developed a sophisticated device modeling code that employs the full configuration-interaction (FCI) method to solve the multi-electron Schrodinger equation self consistently with the electrostatic potential generated from realistic device geometries, enabling highly accurate calculations of the energy spectrum of coupled quantum dot systems. He came to UCLA recently from HRL Laboratories where he was the Principal Investigator and Chief Scientist for over 15 years on numerous programs in the quantum information science and technology area.

Group Alumni

  • Syed Farhan, Cofounder (2020 - 2022)

  • Ashley Shin, Cofounder (2020 - 2023)

  • Lambert Kong (2021 - 2023)

  • Will Wang, Cofounder (2021 - 2024)

  • Cheryl Lim (2022-2024)

  • Amanda Younes

  • Hira Sundar

  • Edvin Molla

  • Yongja He (2021-2024)