Elevate Quantum today announced the addition of two new members to its executive team, a critical milestone following the Tech Hub’s award from the Department of Commerce, unlocking more than $127m in federal and state funding. Anjul Loiacono, Ph.D. is joining as Chief Commercial Officer and Jessi Olsen was named Chief Operations Officer/Chief Financial Officer.

In her role as Chief Commercial Office, Dr. Loiacono will provide an environment where quantum companies can come and accelerate their product development cycle towards a path to commercialization and market deployment. Initially, Dr. Loiacono will be responsible for oversight of Elevate Quantum’s Fab and Lab services. Through close engagement with the consortium, Dr. Loiacono will serve as the voice of the industry, ensuring Elevate Quantum builds services that help accelerate innovation. 

As Chief Financial / Chief Operating Officer, Olsen will provide operational leadership for Elevate Quantum. In this role, she will stand up the internal infrastructure necessary for Elevate Quantum to grow and maximize its impact. Olsen will also lead Elevate Quantum’s external partnerships strategy, helping activate members of the broader ecosystem in pursuit of accelerating innovation and commercialization in quantum.  

“The Mountain West is home to the largest regional coalition of quantum leaders in the world, and the addition of Anjul and Jessi will help accelerate and guide our efforts as we enter the next phase of our mission,” said Zachary Yerushalmi, CEO of Elevate Quantum. “Anjul and Jessi’s mix of expertise, skill sets, and drive represent both the potential and future of the Mountain West’s quantum ecosystem, and we are fortunate to have them join our executive team.”

Prior to Elevate Quantum, Dr. Loiacono spent three years as Vice President of Quantum Matter Platforms at Infleqtion, a department she built and led to become the world’s first commercially available cloud-accessible quantum matter hardware for research and education. She also spent more than a decade at Thorlabs in a series of Product Management, Marketing, Corporate Development, and Management roles.

Dr. Loiacono currently is an industry council member for Optica and serves on several steering and judging committees for SPIE. She earned her Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University, developing optical coherence tomography techniques for developmental biology applications. She holds a Masters of Science in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Rochester and Bachelor of Engineering in Biomedical Engineering from Vanderbilt University.

“I gain fulfillment through helping others,” Dr. Loiacono said. “I look forward to bringing down barriers of commercialization in the quantum industry through standing up services at Elevate Quantum that will accelerate the product development and maturation cycle.”

Olsen comes to Elevate Quantum from the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) where her background centered on workforce and economic development topics. Her work at BCG included leading the growth strategy and community benefit planning for a $2B+ capital project in the clean energy space. In this role she supported state, local, nonprofit, and private sector stakeholders in developing strategies for workforce development, community investment, large scale infrastructure investment, and the roadmap for establishing a clean tech innovation hub.

Throughout her career, Olsen has worked with both public and private sector organizations to develop strategies enabling them to capitalize on emerging opportunities in cutting edge technologies and manufacturing. In her work, she has helped organizations navigate complex challenges such as upskilling, public-private partnership design, long term planning, operational excellence, international supply chain design, and among others.

Olsen holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business, and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Utah Valley University.

“Innovation becomes reality when we harness the power of diverse minds and shared ambitions,” Olsen said. “I am excited to be working with all of the great minds coming together in the pursuit of accelerating the nation’s quantum ecosystem.”

For more information about Elevate Quantum, visit www.elevatequantum.org. 

About Elevate Quantum 

Elevate Quantum, Inc. (EQ) is a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to advancing quantum information technology through research, innovation, and collaboration. By fostering a vibrant startup ecosystem and providing world-class resources, Elevate Quantum aims to secure the Mountain West’s role as a global leader in quantum technologies, ensuring regional economic growth and national security far into the future.

For more information, visit www.elevatequantum.org.