Lab-to-Launch Lounge Series

Join us for a unique session of the Lab-to-Launch Lounge series, where we welcome the technology experts behind Lightsyncq Technologies, a Harvard-founded company that's building the infrastructure to connect quantum computers together.

This isn't your typical tech talk - it's an intimate, informal conversation where you'll hear directly from the founders about their journey from the lab bench to launching a venture-backed startup that caught the attention of industry leader IonQ.

What makes Lightsynq's story compelling? They're tackling one of quantum computing's biggest challenges: how to scale from isolated quantum processors to interconnected, modular systems that can work together. Their breakthrough? Universal optical interconnects using integrated diamond photonic circuits, technology that's enabling the next generation of quantum computers and laying the groundwork for the quantum internet.

This event offers a unique opportunity to dive into their journey from researchers to venture-backed founders shaping the future of computation. Light refreshments provided.

Don’t miss this chance to connect, ask questions, and explore what’s next in quantum computing!

About the Speakers

Dr. Mihir Bhaskar is currently Senior Vice President of Global R&D at IonQ. He joined IonQ following the acquisition of Lightsynq, a Boston-based quantum interconnect startup he co-founded and where he served as CEO. Founded by Harvard quantum networking experts including Mihir, Lightsynq focused on developing memory-enhanced photonic interconnects to enable fast, scalable connections between quantum computing modules. Before IonQ and Lightsynq, Mihir was a research associate at Harvard University and launched and led the Amazon Web Services Center for Quantum Networking (AWS CQN). His PhD thesis at Harvard focused on diamond nanophotonic quantum memories, the technology on which Lightsynq was founded. During his PhD in 2020, he led the first ever demonstration of quantum networking rate enhancements using this approach. The acquisition of Lightsynq by IonQ in mid-2025 significantly accelerated IonQ’s quantum computing and networking roadmaps, and Mihir is now leading all of IonQ’s efforts to scale quantum computers using this modular approach and build distributed quantum networking capabilities.

Bart Machielse is Director of Photonic Technology at IonQ, where he develops integrated photonics systems that connect quantum computers into scalable networks. He joined IonQ following its acquisition of Lightsynq, a Cambridge-based quantum networking startup he co-founded and where he served as Chief Technology Officer. At Lightsynq, Bart led the development of optical interconnect technologies designed to enable modular quantum computing architectures by transmitting quantum information between separate processors.

Before IonQ, Bart was a Senior Quantum Research Scientist at Amazon Web Services, where he co-founded the AWS Center for Quantum Networks and helped build the team developing practical quantum networking infrastructure. He previously completed his PhD in Physics at Harvard University in the Lukin and Lončar groups, focusing on quantum information science and long-distance quantum communication. His doctoral work advanced diamond nanophotonic quantum memories and included a first experimental demonstration of memory-enhanced quantum communication, a key step toward secure communication and large-scale distributed quantum computing.

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