Nicolás Quesada

Nicolás Quesada is an Associate Professor in the Department of Engineering Physics at Polytechnique Montréal, where he holds the MEI Chair in Quantum Photonics. He serves as Director of COPL (Centre d'optique, photonique et laser) and is a member of INTRIQ (Institut transdisciplinaire d'informatique quantique). His research program focuses on quantum information, quantum computing, and quantum optics, with particular emphasis on photonic implementations of quantum technologies.

Dr. Quesada earned his B.Sc. in Physics from Universidad de Antioquia in 2010, followed by M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Physics from the University of Toronto. During his doctoral studies, he was awarded both Vanier and Stoicheff scholarships. Prior to joining Polytechnique Montréal, he worked at Xanadu Quantum Technologies as lead developer of the Strawberry Fields and The Walrus software libraries, where he led theoretical efforts demonstrating photonic quantum advantage.

His research interests span quantum photonics, quantum computing, and quantum optics, with specific focus on Gaussian Boson Sampling, squeezed light generation, non-Gaussian light sources, and quantum benchmarking techniques. His group develops theoretical frameworks and computational tools for next-generation quantum light sources needed for fault-tolerant quantum computers, quantum communication networks, and quantum sensors. His work bridges theoretical quantum information science with practical photonic implementations.

Analysis of his recent publications reveals a strong focus on advancing Gaussian Boson Sampling as a platform for quantum advantage, developing mathematical frameworks for quantum optics, and engineering practical photonic quantum devices. His work spans from fundamental quantum optics to applied quantum computing, with increasing emphasis on verification and benchmarking of quantum computational advantage.

Dr. Quesada has received notable recognition including the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship and the Stoicheff Scholarship during his doctoral studies. His research has attracted significant funding, including a $6 million grant for quantum projects at Polytechnique Montréal announced in January 2025 and involvement in a $1.91 million NSERC quantum sensing project led by Professor Denis Seletskiy.

He has supervised two Master's students to completion in 2024: Dalbec-Constant, N. who worked on photon counting from transition-edge sensors, and Zhao, J. who researched optimal pumps for spontaneous parametric down-conversion. His research group collaborates extensively with both academic and industry partners in the quantum technology sector. As Director of COPL, he oversees one of Canada's leading photonics research centers, facilitating interdisciplinary research across quantum optics, classical optics, and laser technologies.