QUANTUM COMPUTING LEADERSHIP

IQM Appoints Craig Ciesla, Former Illumina VP, as CTO; Inés de Vega Becomes Chief Scientist

Techmediaglobal

| 4 min read

25+ yrs

CIESLA'S DEEP TECH EXPERIENCE

100+

PATENTS & APPLICATIONS

QUANTUM COMPUTERS SOLD

$146M

UPSIZED PIPE INVESTMENT

IQM Quantum Computers, the global leader in superconducting quantum computers, has named Dr. Craig Ciesla as Chief Technology Officer and Dr. Inés de Vega as Chief Scientist, strengthening its leadership bench as the company prepares for its planned Nasdaq listing through a merger with Real Asset Acquisition Corp.

A leadership reshuffle ahead of a Nasdaq listing

IQM Quantum Computers, headquartered in Espoo, Finland, with major operations in Munich, announced that Dr. Craig Ciesla will join as Chief Technology Officer, while Dr. Inés de Vega transitions from Vice President of Quantum Solutions into the newly created role of Chief Scientist.

The appointments arrive as IQM deepens its leadership team ahead of its planned Nasdaq listing through a merger with Real Asset Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: RAAQ). Ciesla will lead the advancement of IQM's technology strategy and its implementation into systems and products, while De Vega will be responsible for scientific feasibility and system-level consistency across the company's technology.

"Ciesla's track record of scaling complex instrumentation platforms and building world-class R&D organizations makes him an exceptional addition to our leadership team. As we accelerate our path toward fault-tolerant quantum computing, his experience integrating hardware and software systems at scale will be invaluable."
— JAN GOETZ, CEO & CO-FOUNDER, IQM QUANTUM COMPUTERS

Craig Ciesla brings deep tech and Fortune 500 pedigree

Ciesla brings more than 25 years of experience delivering products across industries, from startups to Fortune 500 companies, and is an inventor on more than 100 patents and patent applications. He most recently served as Vice President of Engineering at 10x Genomics (Nasdaq: TXG), with earlier leadership roles at Illumina (Nasdaq: ILMN), Lumentum, Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), and Tactus Technology.

He also serves on the Board of Directors of Lightwave Logic, Inc. (Nasdaq: LWLG), and holds a PhD in Physics from Heriot-Watt University.

Inés de Vega's path from research to industrial application

De Vega brings more than 20 years of experience advancing quantum technologies from fundamental research to intellectual property and industrial applications. Throughout her career, she has led teams developing and implementing quantum algorithms across a wide range of applications, while building advanced tools to tackle errors in quantum computers.

She has also held research positions at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, the University of Ulm, and is currently associated with the Department of Theoretical Nanophysics at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.

A vertically integrated quantum company scaling toward Nasdaq

The appointments come as IQM continues to scale its technology roadmap as a fully vertically integrated quantum computing company, operating its own chip factory and assembly line. The company has sold 23 quantum computers to date, more than any other manufacturer.

IQM is nearing its Nasdaq listing through a planned merger with Real Asset Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: RAAQ). The transaction has gained momentum since February, with an upsized PIPE of $146 million secured in early June after Finnish pension insurer Ilmarinen joined existing institutional investors.

"What attracted me to the company is its commitment to building production-grade quantum systems that customers can own, operate, and build value on — not just promises of what quantum could one day do."
— CRAIG CIESLA, CTO, IQM QUANTUM COMPUTERS

Key Takeaways

→Craig Ciesla joins IQM as CTO, bringing 25+ years of deep tech leadership and over 100 patents.
→Inés de Vega moves from VP of Quantum Solutions into a new Chief Scientist role after 20+ years in quantum research.
→The leadership changes coincide with IQM's planned Nasdaq listing via merger with Real Asset Acquisition Corp.
→IQM has sold 23 quantum computers to date, more than any other manufacturer, while operating its own chip factory.
→An upsized $146 million PIPE closed in early June, with Finnish pension insurer Ilmarinen joining existing investors.
→Ciesla previously held senior roles at Illumina, 10x Genomics, Lumentum and Intel before joining IQM.