The David and Lucile Packard Foundation has appointed Dr. Robert Schoelkopf, a Yale University Sterling Professor of Applied Physics and Physics and Associate Director of the Yale Institute for Nanoscience and Quantum Engineering, to the Advisory Panel of the Packard Fellowships for Science and Engineering. A 2000 Packard Fellow, Schoelkopf joins this group of 12 internationally-recognized scientists and engineers who annually select Fellows from a field of early-career scientists nominated by presidents of fifty universities.
The Packard Fellowships in Science and Engineering was established in 1988 to allow the nation’s most promising scientists to pursue science and engineering research early in their careers with few funding restrictions and limited reporting requirements. The Fellowship program arose out of David Packard’s commitment to strengthen university-based science and engineering programs, recognizing that the success of the Hewlett-Packard Company, which he cofounded, derived in large measure from the research and development in university laboratories.
“Robert’s perspectives as a former Fellow, and as a leader in his field, will help the Advisory Panel select the strongest candidates each year from a group of wonderfully creative and talented young professors nominated by their universities,” said Lynn Orr, Keleen and Carlton Beal Professor at Stanford University, and Chairman of the Packard Fellowship Advisory Panel.
Today, Schoelkopf focuses his research on the development of superconducting devices for quantum information processing, which may lead to revolutionary advances in computing. With his collaborators, Professors Michel Devoret and Steve Girvin, their team created the new field of circuit quantum electrodynamics, which allows quantum information to be distributed by microwave signals on wires. His lab has produced many firsts in the field based on these ideas, including the development of a “quantum bus” for information, and the first demonstration of quantum algorithms and quantum error correction with integrated circuits.
“As a former Packard Fellow, I am honored to join this distinguished group of scientists,” said Schoelkopf. “The Packard Fellowship allowed me the freedom to take risks and explore new ideas early in my career. I am excited to join the advisory panel, meet some of the future superstars in a wide spectrum of science and engineering, and help them on their way via this important program.”
