Bio
Barry C Sanders is a CIGI senior fellow. He is a professor at the University of Calgary and a leading figure in quantum science and technology, with research spanning quantum sensing, communication, computing and optics. He is scientific director of the University of Calgary’s Quantum City, where he co-leads efforts to build a quantum innovation ecosystem in Canada.
Barry is an adviser for the European Organization for Nuclear Research’s Open Quantum Institute and Google’s XPRIZE for Quantum Applications competition, a mentor for Creative Destruction Labs in Toronto and Calgary, and was founding co-lead of the Canada-France CNRS (Centre national de la recherche scientifique) international research network. He is a member of standards bodies and three editorial boards and has chaired numerous conferences.
Prior to 2003, Barry was a professor and the head of physics at Macquarie University in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and held several distinguished international visiting positions.
He holds two diplomas and a D.Sc. from Imperial College London, as well as a Ph.D. in physics from the University of London. He is a fellow of Optica, the American Physical Society, the Institute of Physics (UK) and the Royal Society of Canada. He received the City of Calgary International Achievement Award in 2022 and was appointed Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes académiques of France in 2025.