Paola Cappellaro

Paola Cappellaro, an Italian-American engineer, serves as the Ford Professor of Engineering with joint appointments in Nuclear Science and Engineering and Physics at MIT, where she leads the Quantum Engineering Group at the Research Lab for Electronics. After completing her nuclear engineering studies at the Polytechnic University of Milan and École Centrale Paris, she earned her PhD from MIT in 2006, focusing on quantum state transfer in spin chains. Following postdoctoral work at Harvard's Institute for Theoretical Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, she joined MIT's faculty in 2009, where she has made groundbreaking contributions to quantum control and sensing. Her pioneering work includes developing the first nitrogen-vacancy center diamond-based magnetometers and innovative control techniques for nuclear and electronic spin qubits. Her research aims to create practical quantum nano-devices and deepen our understanding of quantum systems, earning her numerous accolades including the Air Force Research Laboratory Young Investigator Award, Edgerton Professorship, and election as a Fellow of the American Physical Society. As a dedicated educator, she has received multiple teaching awards while continuing to advance the field of quantum engineering through her leadership of various quantum technology initiatives at MIT.