Special Regional Tech Hub Invited Talks to Explore the Real-world Potential of AI and Quantum

John Towns is the Deputy Director at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). He leads the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded ACCESS Coordination Office, as part of the overall ACCESS Program supporting researchers and educators nationwide in the use of advanced computing systems, and plays key roles in the National AI Research Resource (NAIRR) Pilot as Co-Chair of the Allocations Working Group and Chair of the Coordination Team.

He also serves as executive sponsor of NCSA’s Quantum Program Office, a partnership with the Illinois Quantum Information Science and Technology Center (IQUIST), to advance quantum research. With more than 35 years of experience, Towns has held leadership roles in numerous national and international initiatives supporting advanced research computing. He holds M.S. degrees in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Illinois and a B.S. in Physics from the Missouri University of Science and Technology.

Dr. David Awschalom is a world-leading quantum scientist whose work has shaped the science, policy, and economics of the U.S. quantum technology sector. Dr. Awschalom’s pioneering research has changed the way scientists observe and manipulate atomic-scale quantum behavior, and his influence as an advisor to U.S. policymakers, funding agencies, corporate executives, and academic leaders has sharpened the national focus on quantum industry, workforce, and supply chain development. 

A strong believer in the role that cross-border, multi-sector partnerships play in deep tech economic development, Dr. Awschalom is a driving force behind the Illinois-Wisconsin-Indiana quantum hub, a globally recognized discovery-to-deployment quantum ecosystem that was seeded and scaled by the Chicago Quantum Exchange (CQE) and its collaborative network of members and partners.

Dr. Awschalom’s research has led to the discoveries of spin coherence in semiconductors, ultrafast manipulation of electron and nuclear spins, and the spin-Hall effect. These discoveries made spins attractive for quantum information technologies and led to the extension of spin coherence lifetimes in silicon carbide by over eight orders of magnitude. He has also demonstrated that common fluorescent proteins can function as biocompatible quantum sensors, which can be genetically encoded to reach specific targets within cells.

In 2017, Dr. Awschalom was instrumental in launching the CQE, which is anchored by the University of Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory, Fermilab, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Northwestern University, and Purdue University. Under Dr. Awschalom’s leadership, the CQE adopted a forward-thinking, proactive model for scaling a full-spectrum quantum ecosystem. Working with partners across academia, industry, and government, the CQE built a framework for driving global quantum innovation by leveraging the Midwest’s world-leading research institutions, robust talent pool, diverse industry base, historic manufacturing strength, and deep multi-sector partnerships.

Among Dr. Awschalom’s awards are the American Physical Society Oliver E. Buckley Prize and Julius Edgar Lilienfeld Prize, the European Physical Society Europhysics Prize, and the Materials Research Society David Turnbull Award. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the European Academy of Sciences, and has received a U.S. Secretary of Energy Achievement Award.

Robert Karr is a partner in the Corporate and Government Services Departments and co-chair of the firm’s Quantum Technology Industry (QTI) Group. He advises stakeholders across the quantum technology ecosystem on technology development, government funding, venture capital, compliance, commercialization, and strategic transactions, including joint ventures, partnerships, and mergers and acquisitions.

In 2025, in partnership with the Chicago Quantum Exchange, he led a team of attorneys and industry experts to create the Quantum Law Navigator – a first-of-its-kind resource that maps the U.S. policy, legal, and regulatory landscape shaping the quantum industry. The report provides clear, practical analysis of four cross-cutting challenges – national security, funding, workforce, and supply chain – to help organizations translate complex rules into actionable strategies.

In addition to his work in the quantum technology industry, Karr has deep experience representing manufacturers across sectors and through mergers and acquisitions, joint venture, financing, and strategic alliances. He regularly advises on matters involving real estate, construction, intellectual property, compliance and risk management, human resources, and government relations, bringing a practical, business-oriented approach to complex commercial objectives.

Karr also has more than 30 years of experience working with Japanese companies on building and scaling their businesses across the U.S. and around the world. Prior to rejoining Barnes & Thornburg, he served as chief legal officer, senior vice president of administration, and member of the executive committee at Blommer Chocolate Company, the largest industrial chocolate supplier in North America. In the that role, he led the company’s international expansion, including establishing a manufacturing facility in Shanghai, China, and played a key role in Blommer’s sale to Fuji Oil Holdings, Inc., a publicly traded Japanese food company. 

Following the acquisition, Karr helped lead the post-merger integration and spearheaded key business transformation initiatives, including closure of the original Chicago plant and manufacturing expansion projects in the United States and Canada. He also supported other Fuji Oil Group companies in North America, among them Fuji Vegetable Oil, Inc. (FVO) and Oilseeds International, LLC., and, in 2023, led the sale of FVO’s New Orleans plant.

Earlier in his career, Karr studied and worked extensively in Japan, where he earned the highest-level Japanese language proficiency exam administered by the Ministry of Education. He was seconded to one of Japan’s largest chemical companies in Tokyo, supporting projects across more than 10 countries on five continents. His work included acquisitions in England and Australia, a series of IP-focused strategic alliances in Europe, and manufacturing expansion in Africa, along with related work with the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland.

For more than three decades, Karr has devoted his civic leadership preserving and advancing the Garden of the Phoenix in Chicago. From 2013 to 2019, he partnered with Yoko Ono to realize SKYLANDING – her first and only permanent commissioned artwork in the Americas – installed in the Garden of the Phoenix. He also collaborated with Ono to produce an album of her songs, performed by Tatsu Aoki and the Miyumi Project.

Dr. Prem Kumar is the John A. Dever Professor of Information Technology at the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science at Northwestern University. His primary research focus is on photonic devices and their applications utilizing the principles of nonlinear and quantum optics (>$30 million cumulative research funding). Recent projects have included: generation, distribution, and ultrafast processing of photonic entanglement for applications in quantum information networks; novel quantum light states for precision measurements, imaging, and sensing; and novel optical amplifiers and devices for networked classical optical communications. 

Although Dr. Kumar’s primary appointment is in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, an affiliation with the Applied Physics program allows him to recruit multidisciplinary students into his research group, a privilege that has proven extremely beneficial for his research interests that lie at the interface of basic quantum science and applied information technology. Because of this interdisciplinary exposure, Ph.D. graduates from his research group (37 completed, five in progress) have gone on to build careers in academia, industry, and U.S. national labs. His group has cumulatively published  more than 500 research papers (Google Scholar h-index: 69), including one edited book, two book chapters, six patents, over 200 peer-reviewed journal papers, 45 articles in hard-bound volumes, and more than 300 conference papers (with >100 invited). 

From 2013-2017, Dr. Kumar was on leave from Northwestern to be at DARPA, where he served as a Program Manager in the Defense Sciences Office. At DARPA, Dr. Kumar created and managed a ~$20 million/year portfolio of programs in basic and applied sciences, targeting a diverse range of topics that included neuroscience and engineering, ultrafast laser science and technology, precision navigation and timing, stand-off chem-bio defense, quantum effects in biological environments, and quantum information science and technology.

He was also program manager for the Defense Science Study Group, which allowed him to interact with young academic faculty from universities across the United States in various national defense settings. For his robust portfolio of programs in basic science and technology and his mentoring of DARPA Risers – young, noteworthy performers on DARPA programs – Dr. Kumar was selected Program Manager of the Year in 2015 and awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service in 2016. 

Prior to joining DARPA, Dr. Kumar served on the National Academies Committee that issued the 2012 landmark study: “Optics and Photonics: Essential Technologies for Our Nation,” which spawned the National Photonics Initiative (NPI). From 2018 to 2024, Dr. Kumar served on the NPI Steering Committee, lending his expertise to issues pertaining to the National Quantum Initiative. 

Dr. Kumar is a Fellow of Optica (formerly OSA), APS, IEEE, IoP (U.K.), AAAS, and SPIE. He has been a Distinguished Lecturer for the IEEE Photonics Society; Hermann A. Haus Lecturer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology; recipient of the Quantum Communication Award from Tamagawa University in Tokyo, Japan; and the Walder Research Excellence Award from the Provost’s office at Northwestern University. From 2020 to 2025, he served as the Editor-in-Chief of Optica, the flagship journal of The Optica Publishing Group (formerly OSA) for high-impact research. Currently, he co-chairs the National Academies Committee on Atomic Molecular and Optical Sciences and was recently appointed to the External Advisory Board for NTT Basic Research Laboratories in Atsugi, Japan. Internal to Northwestern, he serves on the Executive Committee for the Institute at Northwestern for Quantum Information Research and Engineering (INQUIRE). Beginning Fall 2026, he began serving as the Interim Chair of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department.

Dr. Ameen Salahudeen is a physician scientist and Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois College of Medicine. His clinical practice and research focus on ways to detect and treat early cancers to improve cure rates in lung and head and neck cancer patients.

Prior to University of Illinois College of Medicine, he was the Scientific Director at Tempus AI, where he oversaw early research and development in oncology and artificial intelligence. Dr. Salahudeen received his M.D./Ph.D., at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas and his post-graduate training in cancer biology and hematology oncology at Stanford University. 

Dr. Khan Siddiqui is a world-renowned clinical radiologist, pioneer in the field of AI, and a serial entrepreneur. His network stretches through medicine, academia, technology, government, clinical associations, and finance. He holds dozens of patents in deep learning, AI, image processing, data visualization, MR imaging, and secure patient information handling. His work at Microsoft in the early 2000s included the first multimodal AI model in medical imaging and developing the necessary infrastructure and training for the large AI model behind Xbox Kinect, which was based on nearly one billion images. 

As an entrepreneur, Dr. Siddiqui took Hyperfine, Inc., the creator of the world’s first FDA 510(k)-cleared, portable MRI scanner, public via a SPAC process. He also founded higi, Inc., a consumer health technology company, which was in a $4.2 billion SPAC transaction.

Dr. Siddiqui has held significant roles at Microsoft, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Maryland. He was founding chair of the American College of Radiology’s Imaging and Informatics Commission and has demonstrated his leadership and expertise throughout the field of radiology. He contributed to dozens of academic radiology informatics programs in the United States and is a frequent lecturer on building highly scalable technology and data-driven digital health companies, as well as the rapid commercialization of medical and digital health technologies, particularly AI in radiology and medical imaging startups.

Finally, Dr. Siddiqui is a member of various boards and advisory committees for startups around the world. He has given hundreds of invited talks. His work has been recognized globally, further solidifying his reputation as a leader in healthcare technology.

Dr. Alexander Pearson is Director of the University of Chicago Center for Computational Medicine and Clinical Artificial Intelligence, as well as Director of the Head/Neck Cancer Program in Medical Oncology. He is a Chan-Zuckerberg Chicago Biohub Investigator and has a joint appointment at Argonne National Laboratory. Dr. Pearson trained with a Ph.D. in statistical machine learning and as a medical doctor. He completed both subspecialty training in Hematology/Oncology and postdoctoral research in mathematical systems biology and translational head/neck cancer. Dr. Pearson currently practices medical oncology at the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center, where he is an active clinical investigator and clinical trialist.

Dr. Pearson researches applications of quantitative methods to cancer research, and his research lab studies clinical applications for machine learning, mathematical modeling, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and systems biology. He has authored more than 100 research manuscripts in clinical and computational oncology, including seminal works in deep learning for digital pathology and large language models use in medical research.

His research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Defense, EU Horizon 2020 Initiative, Wellcome Trust, and multiple industry partners. He has served on AI-in-medicine advisory groups to the NIH, American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Dental Association, and American Medical Association.

Dr. Pearson is an active educator, mentor, and lecturer and has developed grant-funded pre- and post-doctoral educational programs in the United States and Africa.