Alex van Someren

Executive Chair, Photonic Inc.

Alex van Someren FREng FIET is a British engineer and cybersecurity expert who has been a key figure in the UK's technology sector, in venture capital and in national security. He is currently the Executive Chair of Vancouver-based Quantum Computing company Photonic, Inc.

His career began at Acorn Computer in the 1980s, where he contributed to developing the BBC Microcomputer and the Acorn Electron. He then co-founded several technology companies, two of which became public through IPOs on the London Stock Exchange, ANT Software plc (AIM:ANTP) and nCipher plc (LSE:NCH), both later acquired.

Alex served as a Managing Partner at venture capital firm Amadeus Capital Partners from 2010 to 2021, focusing on early-stage investments in ‘deep technology’ across the UK and Europe.

In 2021, he was appointed as the UK's Chief Scientific Adviser for National Security, providing independent scientific advice to the UK Intelligence Agencies and to wider UK government. During this period, he also served as a consultant to the €1 Billion NATO Innovation Fund.

Alex is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology and an Honorary Professor of Computer Science at the University of Manchester. He was previously the Clore Innovation Professor at the Royal College of Art.

: alexvansomeren

Wenmiao Yu

Co-Founder & Director of Business Development, Quantum Dice Ltd.

Wenmiao Yu is the co-founder and Director of Business Development at Quantum Dice where she focuses on translating scientific innovation into marketable products, and VC fundraising. After reading Chemistry at the University of Oxford and ideating Quantum Dice, Wenmiao went to the Quantum Technology Enterprise Centre as an Enterprise Fellow. She strongly believes in the power of communities, crucial to growing nascent industries such as quantum technologies. Wenmiao brought Quantum Dice into the Royal Academy of Engineering’s network of high-growth technology companies after being selected for the Shott Scale Up Accelerator in 2022. She is currently the founding Secretary for the Institute of Physics quantum-Business Innovation and Growth group. There, Wenmiao also leads the sub-group to deliver on qBIG’s “voice into government” objective.

: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wenmiao-yu-b37bba151

Phillip Burr

Head of Product, Lumai

Phil is Head of Product at Lumai, the optical computing company developing highly energy-efficient AI acceleration for the inference era. With more than 25 years of experience in global product management, go-to-market strategy, and technology, Phil has held senior roles at leading semiconductor and technology companies including Arm, Indie Semiconductor,  Mentor Graphics (now Siemens) and TTP. He has a track record of building and scaling innovative products and services.

: phillipburr

Chris Smith

SVP Software, Fractile

Chris Smith is a technology executive with over twenty-five years experience across AI, GPU, communications, and CPU. He leads the software organisation at Fractile, delivering the full stack from cloud inference to silicon for Fractile's groundbreaking AI inference accelerator systems. Prior to joining Fractile as one of the first employees in early 2024, Chris spent 11 years at Imagination Technologies working on a wide portfolio of semiconductor IP products spanning mobile, consumer, and automotive, ultimately leading software R&D across the business.

: chris-smith-sw