UCLA Quantum Engineer Appointed to Committee at National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Clarice Aiello, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, has recently been appointed to a committee at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to coordinate a workshop on the use of quantum-enabled sensing, imaging and instrumentation technologies for biological applications.

The workshop will convene experts in quantum-enabled technologies, as well as scientists who work on applying these technologies to biological systems. The goal is to bring together specialists from these diverse scientific fields to address challenges in biological sensing and imaging.

Aiello focuses on how quantum physics impacts biology at the nanoscale. Her research group, the Quantum Biology Tech (QuBiT) Lab, performs quantum measurements on living sensors, such as proteins and microorganisms, to understand how the sensors interact with their environment. Findings from this research area can lead to a broad range of discoveries, such as how animals navigate, advanced therapeutics for metabolic-related diseases and quantum information strategies for computing.

As a professor, Aiello has focused on bridging a gap in quantum mechanics education, which has historically excluded engineers. She also taught a Fiat Lux freshman seminar on quantum computing this quarter.

Among the many honors Aiello has received include the Life Sciences Research Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and MIT’s School of Engineering Graduate Student Award for Extraordinary Teaching and Mentoring. She joined the UCLA faculty in 2019, and is also a member of the Center for Quantum Science and Engineering.