02/02/2013 | Press release

Waterloo Mayor Brenda Halloran greets Russian Investor Serguei Kouzmine: Quantum Computing Investor Praises Waterloo as ”Quantum Valley”

distributed by noodls on 02/02/2013 10:42

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Serguei Kouzmine , Managing Partner of Q-Wave Capital, travelled to Waterloo to assess investment opportunities in the fields of Quantum Computing and Nanotechnology.  "This is an unbelievable facility," said Mr. Kouzmine of the Institute for Quantum Computing.  "It has everything; I am looking forward to a return visit very soon."

"We see our quantum-nano hub as the new "Quantum Valley" of the next era," said Waterloo Mayor Brenda Halloran.   "The build-up of the software industry had its roots in 'Silicon Valley'; now we are reprising it in a new age with Waterloo's Quantum Valley."

The objective of the Quantum Wave Fund is to take advantage of the proven high performance of smaller-scale investing in order to back emerging companies that are exploiting a huge new 'Blue Ocean' opportunity: the new realm of highly advanced materials science.  "Quantum and nano-technologies lie beneath the classic world that humans see around them," said Barry Gander, EVP of the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATA) and Co-Founder, i-CANADA.  "CATA has been tracking this since the emergence in 1986 of the nano-tech movement under Eric Drexler."

Mr. Kouzmine is highly interested in two areas:  quantum security, cryptography and communications; and quantum sensors. "They are both near-term areas for investment return.  Magnetic fields, electric fields, gravitational fields, acceleration, time, distance - all can be measured precisely with the help of quantum effects. So, that's an area where we'll also be doing a lot of investments, and where we see a lot of practical applications today. There are small-scale atomic clocks, for example."

"Waterloo is a dynamo in the Ideas Economy," said Councillor Mark Waley.  "One-third of our population consists of university students  -  and they go to a very entrepreneurial university.  We are confident that we can help investors like Serguei create a critical mass in Quantum Valley."

"Quantum and nano-technology will quite simply revolutionize the world," stated i-CANADA Chair Bill Hutchison.  "They will transform every sector of our work and lives.  Waterloo is a new Eden."

Mike Lazadris, co-founder of RIM, said at the opening of the building that he was instrumental in creating:  "This is not just another university research facility … I believe the work that will be done here will help transform the way we work, live and play.  These kind of scientific advances spawn entrepreneurs, provide jobs and literally transform communities and society."

Mr.Kouzmine has a PhD in physics from the Institute of Nuclear Physics in Russia.  He has a degree in Business from the University of Chicago.  In his two decades of entrepreneurial experience he founded one of Russia's first computer brands, and led another company from $40-million in revenues to more than $1.5-billion in four years.

Informing Mr. Kouzmine on the visit were Joseph Emerson, Professor, IQC; Scott Nicoll, project manager for QNC building; and Tobi Day-Hamilton, IQC.  Tim Ellis, President of the Waterloo Accelerator Centre, explored ideas for moving the collaboration forward with Mr. Kouzmine.

About the Mike & Ophelia Lazaridis Quantum-Nano Centre

Enabling research and innovation at the forefront of science, this state-of-the-art facility is constructed to the most stringent scientific standards - anti-vibration, humidity and temperature controls. An architectural marvel at the heart of the University of Waterloo, the building is designed to foster cross-disciplinary collaboration between researchers, and will be a magnet for the world's top minds. The Mike & Ophelia Lazaridis Quantum-Nano Centre is home to the Institute for Quantum Computing, the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology and the Nanotechnology Engineering program.

About i-CANADA

i-CANADA is a movement dedicated towards making all Canadian communities  --  large and small, urban and rural  --  into Intelligent Communities, fully employing e-health, e-work, e-commerce, e-education and e-government, to provide the sustainable prosperity that comes from full digital enablement.  i-CANADA is powered by Canada's largest technology organization: the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATA).  I-CANADA's mission is to provide Canadian communications with the knowledge and tools to become leaders in the global intelligent economy.  It is currently working with some 50 Canadian communities, rural and local, to transform them into Intelligent Communities.  'First the community, then the country', is the motto that i-CANADA uses to visualize the evolution of Canada into one of the world's Intelligent Nations.www.icanada.nu

For more information contact Barry Gander:  bgander@cata.ca

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