Bob Ledoux joined UNM after serving as a Program Director at ARPA-E, where he led programs in advanced nuclear energy, transportation decarbonization, and quantum computing applications. Previously, he founded and served as CEO of Passport Systems, a company specializing in non-intrusive cargo inspection technologies developed in partnership with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. At ARPA-E, he helped advance high-risk, high-reward technologies with the potential to strengthen U.S. energy security and economic competitiveness. Ledoux holds a Ph.D. in experimental nuclear physics from MIT, is a co-inventor on more than 20 U.S. and international patents, and brings more than 30 years of experience spanning scientific research, technology commercialization, and entrepreneurial leadership in both the public and private sectors.

Rob Black is the Cabinet Secretary of the New Mexico Economic Development Department, leading the state's efforts to compete in the next generation of innovation-driven industries. Born and raised in Lovington, New Mexico, he is focused on building a resilient, high-wage economy that delivers long-term opportunity for families across the state.

As Cabinet Secretary, Black has overseen the launch of a Site Readiness program designed to accelerate business attraction, secured New Mexico's first fusion energy company, and supported the creation of a $25 million quantum venture studio, and other key efforts that have helped propel New Mexico into the top tier nationally for manufacturing and high-wage job growth. Black brings more than 25 years of experience across the public and private sectors and holds degrees from the University of New Mexico and UC Law San Francisco.

Ivan Deutsch is Distinguished & Regents Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of New Mexico. He received BS from MIT and PhD from UC Bekeley working with Prof. Ray Chiao in quantum optics. After a short postdoc at France Telecom in Paris, he was a postdoc at NIST with Prof. Bill Phillips working on laser cooling and pioneering optical lattices. In 1995, he joined the faculty at UNM, and together with Prof. Carl Caves, he established the Quantum Information Science group. He has been a researcher in quantum information science and AMO physics for over 30 years, supervising over 30 PhD students. From 2018-2026 he was the Director of the Center for Quantum Information and Control (CQuIC) and the founding the Director of the Quantum New Mexico Institute (QNM-I) in 2024-2025, a university-wide institute at UNM and joint institute with Sandia and Los Alamos National Labs. He is also the founder of Southwest Quantum Information and Technology (SQuInT), a network of >30 universities, national labs, and industry and the host of one of the longest standing workshops in QIS since 1999.

Dr. Jennifer Strabley has more than two decades of experience in high-technology R&D, product development, and product management. As Vice President and General Manager of Quantinuum's Compute Products business, Dr. Strabley has end-to-end responsibility for the full product lifecycle development and deployment of Quantinuum's quantum computers. Dr. Strabley started her career in R&D with a Ph.D in atomic, molecular and optical physics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellowship at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg MD. Dr. Strabley then spent 14 years at Honeywell Aerospace primarily focused on technologies and products for Precision Navigation and Timing (PNT). From her time at Honeywell, she holds 19 issued patents. Dr. Strabley has been with Quantinuum for over four years and currently works in Quantinuum's Broomfield, Colorado headquarters.

Dr. Carleton Coffrin is a senior scientist and quantum science coordinator at Los Alamos National Laboratory, with expertise in computer science, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing. He earned his PhD in Computer Science from Brown University in 2012, focusing on numerical methods for mathematical optimization. Since joining Los Alamos in 2016, he has investigated quantum computing through benchmarking a broad range of commercial hardware platforms. In 2026, Dr. Coffrin championed the establishment of the Laboratory's Center for Quantum Computation, which brings together approximately 100 scientists conducting quantum computing research with an emphasis on high-impact applications in physics simulation.

Jennifer Gaudioso is Director of the Center for Computing Research at Sandia National Laboratories, where she stewards a research portfolio spanning fundamental science through state-of-the-art applications in computing, modeling and simulation, data analytics, and decision support. She also serves as Program Executive for NNSA's Advanced Simulation and Computing Program at Sandia and as co-director of Sandia's Quantum Futures Center, which is dedicated to integrating quantum expertise across the Labs to shape the future of national security. Jen previously led Sandia organizations focused on national security analysis, cybersecurity, infrastructure resilience, and global security futures. She holds a PhD and master's degree in physical chemistry from Cornell University and a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Bard College.

Before joining Roadrunner, David spent more than a decade at Sandia National Laboratories, most recently as Manager of Technology and Economic Development. There he led programs including COMPASS, a commercialization partnership with SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, and DOE Boost, a venture-building platform for lab-born startups. He also served as Associate Director of the Quantum Systems Accelerator, a DOE National Quantum Information Science Research Center.