Thomas Jennewein
Thomas Jennewein is a physicist and professor whose work focuses on quantum communication, quantum photonics, and the development of long-distance quantum networks. He is currently a Professor at Simon Fraser University in Canada and holds the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Global Quantum Internet Systems. He is also a Scientific Fellow at Photonic Inc. and is associated with several international quantum technology initiatives, including QEYNet, Phantom Photonic, and UQDevices.
He completed his PhD in Experimental Physics at the University of Vienna in 2002. His doctoral research focused on quantum communication and quantum teleportation using entangled photons. This work received the Loschmidt Prize from the Austrian Physical-Chemical Society and was selected by the American Physical Society as one of the Top Ten Highlights of 2000 for its contribution to quantum cryptography with entangled photons. Before this, he completed his Master’s degree in Experimental Physics at the University of Innsbruck, where he carried out early experiments on entangled photons over long distances and helped develop one of the first working quantum cryptography systems.
From 2004 to 2009, he worked as a Senior Scientist at the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, where he specialised in experimental quantum photonics. In 2009, he joined the University of Waterloo as an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and as a faculty member of the Institute for Quantum Computing. He remained there until 2025. During this time, he was also affiliated with the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics and was a scholar of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research in the Quantum Information Processing programme.
Dr Jennewein is the Principal Investigator for Canada’s Quantum EncrYption and Science Satellite mission (QEYSSat), working with the Canadian Space Agency and international partners to develop satellite-based quantum communication and quantum key distribution. He is also the Co-Founder of QEYNet and the CEO of Universal Quantum Devices, a company that designs and sells advanced timing instruments for quantum optics research.
