Dr Dean Brand

Dean is a postdoctoral researcher in the Quantum Research Group of Stellenbosch University in South Africa, under the supervision of Prof Francesco Petruccione. His current research is focused on the intersection of quantum computing and neuromorphic computing, to find an optimal hybridisation of these technologies.

Dean recently completed his PhD in the same group, titled Quantum Neuromorphic Computing, which was based on the application of quantum computing techniques to neuromorphic computing, and the development of a novel quantum neuromorphic computing architecture. This work led to the publication of 3 research articles and one preprint.

Dean completed his BSc and BSc Honours at the University of the Witwatersrand, majoring in astronomy, astrophysics, and theoretical physics. After this he completed a NITheCS internship with Prof Francesco Petruccione and Prof Ilya Sinayskiy (University of KwaZulu-Natal – UKZN) which was an introductory research project on quantum computing. This led to a Master’s degree with the same supervisors at UKZN, which was based on an application of Open Quantum Systems techniques to model the noise of IBM quantum computers.

His research interests have since evolved to include machine learning and quantum algorithms, which are central to the idea and aims of neuromorphic quantum computing, especially for applications such as artificial intelligence and deep learning.