Elizabeth Iwasawa

Quantum Technology Lead Leidos

Elizabeth Iwasawa is the Quantum Technology Group Lead of the Leidos Innovation Center (LInC), the ground-breaking research and development heart of Leidos (formerly SAIC). She is driving Leidos’ quantum strategy and growing the technology portfolio and research team, focusing on key development areas in quantum communications, sensing, and computing. She is PI on DARPA’s quantum-augmented networks program, QuANET. Her other focus is fostering Leidos’ quantum workforce by investing internally across a wide variety of technical backgrounds to develop a unique multi-disciplinary, collaborative, and industry-applicable approach to quantum research.

Elizabeth started her physics career on a dare her senior year of college by taking a Quantum Mechanics class just before graduating with a degree in creative writing. Her newly discovered passion saw her take on a M.S. in Materials Science followed by a Ph.D. in Particle Astrophysics from Drexel University. She worked with the IceCube South Pole Neutrino Observatory and Super Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) collaborations before turning to industry. Prior to joining Leidos, she supported sub-surface maritime autonomy research and was a member of the Quantum Technology Council at BAE Systems.