Influential Canadian tech and startup publication, BetaKit, recently published its annual Most Ambitious issue, which highlighted several individuals and companies from the University of Toronto (U of T) community, with prominent mentions of CQIQC researchers.

According to BetaKit, this year’s issue put a focus on telling “stories of Canadian ambition,” and how the featured innovators are strengthening Canada’s “autonomy, security and prosperity.”

Amr Helmy, professor at U of T’s Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering and CQIQC member, was recognized for his contributions to Canadian defence. He aims to create an independent, secure and accurate GPS system that uses ‘squeezed light,’ a technology that will enable location measurement using photons (particles of light).

Such a system would make Canada independent of foreign infrastructure, would be difficult to jam or spoof, and could be used anywhere.

The issue also spotlighted CQIQC member Alán Aspuru-Guzik as a researcher whose contributions will have a lasting global impact. Guzik, a professor of chemistry and computer science, was noted for his work on self-driving labs (SDLs).

SDLs are labs that use AI and automation to accelerate experimentation and discovery of new materials and molecules, and could aid in the discovery of new chemicals and materials at a fraction of the time and cost, speeding up and strengthening Canadian R&D.

The issue also featured a Canadian full-stack quantum computing company that recently went public, Xanadu. The company’s founder, Christian Weedbrook, was a CQIQC Post-Doctoral Fellow from 2010 to 2012. The issue notes Xanadu’s progress in generating qubits using photons and networking multiple quantum computers together, as the company works toward a quantum data centre in Canada before 2030. Weedbrook also appeared at the sold-out BetaKit Most Ambitious: Town Hall, which was the opening event for Toronto Tech Week (May 25 to 29).