LOS ANGELES, Jan. 12, 2022 – Q-CTRL, an emerging leader producing intuitive and scalable quantum control engineering solutions to accelerate the development of quantum technology, today announced the addition of Aravind Ratnam as Chief Strategy Officer. In his new role, Ratnam will lead corporate strategy to achieve 10X growth for Q-CTRL over the next three years.
As the first external hire into the C-Suite since the company was founded, Ratnam brings a wealth of experience from Silicon Valley startups where he led product, technology and corporate strategy. Most recently, Ratnam served as Head of Products for Sense Photonics (acquired by NASDAQ: OUST) and Vice President of Products for AEye Inc. (NASDAQ: LIDR)
“I am honored to join the Q-CTRL team to help grow the company and bring quantum computing closer to reality,” said Ratnam. “Q-CTRL’s technology has endless applications from space to transportation to climate science, and I look forward to being part of the technology’s transformative growth.”
As an engineer and physicist, Ratnam also has extensive experience in software-enabled hardware and space technology. Aravind characterized instrumentation for the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) first astronomy satellite and built hardware for a NASA high energy particle detector that flew on Shuttle Endeavour. He also worked on control algorithms for the world’s most sophisticated extreme ultraviolet lasers for semiconductor lithography at ASML.
In addition, Ratnam served as a management consultant at Monitor Deloitte and IBB, where he formulated go-to-market strategies and executed operational turnarounds for Fortune 500 companies. Prior to this, Ratnam held the roles of Head of Connected Vehicle Products and Director of Corporate Strategy for Intel’s Wind River, a global leader in delivering software for intelligent systems.
“Aravind’s extensive experience in electrical engineering, space technology, business and product strategy make him the ideal fit to take Q-CTRL to the next level,” said Q-CTRL Founder and CEO Professor Michael J. Biercuk. “We are on an exceptional growth trajectory to become a dominant player in the emerging quantum technology industry, and we are confident Aravind will help us reach our goal.”
Ratnam holds a master’s degree in space science from Florida Tech and in system design and management from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has been an advisor to several high-tech startups in virtual reality, connected health, safety data platforms, autonomous driving and flying and eVTOL cars.
Q-CTRL specializes in using control engineering to make quantum hardware useful in real-world settings – whether in data centers, on aircraft, or even in space. Its solutions have been validated to deliver 10-100X improvements in the performance of quantum hardware, including demonstrations on IBM quantum computers.
Recently, the company announced a $25 million Series B funding round led by Airbus Ventures. Q-CTRL was also named to the Most Innovative Companies List by The Australian Financial Review and BOSS Magazine and a winner of the InnovationAus Australian Hero Award for its technology’s potential to make quantum computing useful by improving quantum computer stability.
To learn more about Q-CTRL, please visit: q-ctrl.com.
About Q-CTRL
Q-CTRL is building the quantum technology industry by overcoming the fundamental challenge in the field – hardware error and instability. Q-CTRL’s quantum control infrastructure software for R&D professionals and quantum computing end users delivers the highest performance error-suppressing techniques globally, and provides a unique capability accelerating the pathway to the first useful quantum computers. This foundational capability also applies to a new generation of quantum sensors, and enables Q-CTRL to shape and underpin every application of quantum technology.
Q-CTRL has assembled the world’s foremost team of expert quantum-control engineers, providing solutions to many of the most advanced quantum computing and sensing teams globally. Q-CTRL has been an inaugural member of the IBM Quantum Startup network since 2018, and recently announced a partnership with Transport for NSW, delivering its enterprise infrastructure software to transport data scientists exploring quantum computing. Q-CTRL is funded by SquarePeg Capital, Sierra Ventures, Sequoia Capital China, Data Collective, Horizons Ventures, Main Sequence Ventures, In-Q-Tel, Airbus Ventures, and Ridgeline Partners. The company has international headquarters in Sydney, Los Angeles, and Berlin.
