Andrew Conrad, PhD

Andrew Conrad serves as a Quantum Cryptography Researcher in the Global Technology Applied Research (GTAR) group at JPMorganChase, on the firm's Quantum Networking & Security team. Over a career of more than 15 years, he has worked across quantum communications, quantum sensing, defense technology, and applied machine learning in industry, government, and academic research.

Prior to joining JPMorganChase, he completed his Ph.D. as a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellow, serving as overall technical lead of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's drone- and vehicle-based quantum communication program. The program demonstrated the first known drone-to-drone, drone-to-vehicle, and vehicle-to-vehicle quantum key distribution links, and he also developed a practical Quantum Position Verification (QPV) protocol. His Ph.D. research earned the Scott D. Anderson Award in Physics and the Paul D. Coleman Outstanding Research Award. Before his doctoral work, he spent nearly a decade in the U.S. defense industry with General Dynamics, Amtec Corporation, and CMA Technologies, where he served as lead engineer on optical remote-sensing and RF detection programs and developed deep-learning models for the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory. He is a licensed Professional Engineer, an IEEE Senior Member, a member of the Tau Beta Pi and Eta Kappa Nu honor societies, and an Eagle Scout.

His education includes a Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Summa Cum Laude, and a Master of Science (M.S.) in Electrical Engineering from the Missouri University of Science and Technology, and a Doctorate (Ph.D.) in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.