2021 Summer Workshop

The Hertz Foundation's 2021 Summer Workshop will take place online on Saturday, July 17, from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Pacific using the Zoom video conferencing platform. 

This year's workshop will be oriented around two exciting efforts spearheaded by Hertz Fellows. 

Monika Schleier-Smith, 2020 MacArthur Fellow and associate professor at Stanford University, will explore the power of quantum information. She'll discuss how her laboratory is letting distant atoms “talk” to each other with the aid of photons that act as messengers, opening opportunities ranging from simulating quantum gravity to exploring new computational paradigms for problems intractable to classical computers.

Christian Wentz, founder and CEO of Gradient, and Edward Frank, founder and CEO of Brilliant Lime, will discuss how Gradient Technologies is providing solutions for securing critical digital infrastructure from cyber attacks. Together, they will explore the nature of the problem, the insufficiency of existing solutions, and how Gradient’s technologies can dramatically improve the situation. 

The summer workshop is intended for Hertz Fellows, donors to the Hertz Foundation, and invited guests only. Please register using the form below, and we'll email you the Zoom meeting details.

Saturday, July 17, 2021
All times Pacific

8:00 - 8:10 a.m. 
Opening Remarks
Robbee Baker Kosak, President, Hertz Foundation

8:10 - 9:15 a.m.
Securing Critical Digital Infrastructure
Christian Wentz, Founder and CEO of Gradient
Edward Frank, Founder and CEO of Brilliant Lime

There has never been a greater need to prevent cyber attacks that can cause massive disruption to our society. Gradient Technologies is an early-stage company that provides solutions for securing critical digital infrastructure through fine-grain mechanisms that both prevent attacks from being successful and limit the scope of an attack that can penetrate the security boundary. Hertz Fellows Christian Wentz, founder and CEO, and Edward Frank, a special-advisor to the company, will explore the nature of the problem, the insufficiency of existing solutions, and how Gradient’s technologies can dramatically improve the situation. They will also discuss how being Hertz Fellows created the opportunity to work together.

9:30 - 10:30 a.m.
Atoms and Photons: from Fundamental Physics to Quantum Technology
Monika Schleier-Smith, Associate Professor, Stanford University

The power of quantum information lies in its capacity to be non-local, encoded in correlations among entangled particles. Yet our ability to produce, understand, and exploit such correlations is hampered by the fact that the interactions between particles are ordinarily local. To circumvent this limitation in the laboratory, we let distant atoms “talk” to each other with the aid of photons that act as messengers. This toolbox opens opportunities ranging from simulating quantum gravity to exploring new computational paradigms for problems intractable to classical computers.

10:30 a.m.
Closing Remarks