Blake Johnson

Quantum Platform Lead IBM Quantum Research

Blake Johnson is the Tech Lead for quantum control systems at IBM. His team is responsible for the hardware and software components involved in execution of a quantum program, including converting the program into the signals that actuate operations on quantum processors. Blake has previously worked across many elements of the quantum computing stack, including research into characterization protocols, quantum programming languages, device design, and system architecture. Prior to joining IBM, Blake served as Chief Quantum Engineer at Rigetti Computing and Senior Scientist at Raytheon BBN Technologies. Blake earned his PhD in physics from Yale University under advisor Rob Schoelkopf, where he helped develop superconducting transmon qubits and apply them to novel quantum optics tasks, including invention of an absorptionless single-photon detector.