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Paola Cappellaro

Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Professor of Physics

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Research Laboratory of Electronics
Room 26-303
77 Massachusetts AvenueEmail: pcappell-at-mit.edu
Cambridge, MA 02139-4307Tel: 617-253-8137

Short Bio

Full CV

Paola Cappellaro is the Ford Professor of Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering and in the Department of Physics. She is a member of the Research Lab for Electronics, where she leads the Quantum Engineering Group. She received her Ph.D in 2006 from MIT and she then joined Harvard University as a postdoctoral associate in the Institute for Theoretical Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics (ITAMP), before going back to MIT as a faculty in 2009.
Prof. Cappellaro is an expert in NMR, ESR, coherent control and quantum information science. She is a specialist in spin-based quantum information processing and precision measurements in the solid state. With collaborators, she developed the concept and first demonstrations of NV-diamond magnetometers. Cappellaro's major contributions have been in developing control techniques for nuclear and electronic spin qubits, including NV-diamond, inspired by NMR techniques and quantum information ideas. The goal is the realization of practical quantum nano-devices, such as sensors and simulators, more powerful than their classical counterparts, as well as the acquisition of a deeper knowledge of quantum systems and their environment.

Education

  • ITAMP, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
    • - Postdoctoral Fellow
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA (2006)
    • - Ph.D. in Nuclear Science and Engineering.
    - Advisor: Prof. David Cory. Dissertation title: Quantum Information Processing in Multi-Spin Systems (abstract)
  • Ecole Centrale Paris, Paris, France (2001)
    • - Joint MS in Applied Physics with Politecnico di Milano (TIME double degree program).
  • Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy (2000)
    • - Laurea (BS/MS) in Nuclear Engineering, Summa cum Laude.
    - MS Thesis on "Neutron spectra analysis for the validation of the dosimetric calibration in CERN facilities".

    Teaching

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
    - Instructor for "22.51 Quantum Technology and Devices" (2020-current)
    - Instructor for Nuclear Energy: Science, Systems and Society(2020-Current)
    - Instructor for 22.ThT Undegraduate thesis tutorial (2019-current)
    - Instructor for "22.11 Applied Nuclear Physics" (2015, 2022, 2023)
    - Instructor for "22.02 Introduction to Applied Nuclear Physics" (2010-2018)
    - Instructor for "22.101 Applied Nuclear Physics" (2013, 2024)
    - Instructor for "22.51 Interaction of Radiation with Matter" (2009-2019)
    - Instructor for "22.920 A Hands-On Introduction to Nuclear Magnetic Resonance" (2005)
    - Teaching Assistant for "22.312 Engineering of Nuclear Reactors" (Prof. M. S. Kazimi, Fall 2001)
    Award as Outstanding TA in the Nuclear Engineering Department.

    Awards

    - APS Fellow (2023, Division of Atomic, Molecular & Optical Physics Fellowship
      For groundbreaking contributions to quantum control and quantum sensing with spin systems.)
    - Ford Professorship (2021)
    - Committed to Caring Award (2018)
    - Merkator Fellowship (2014)
    - Edgerton Professorship (2013)
    - AFOSR Young Investigator Award (2012)
    - PAI Outstanding Teacher and Mentor (2010)
    - Graduate Teaching Award, MIT School of Engineering (2005)
    - Manson Benedict Fellowship (2004)
    - Alpha Nu Sigma (honorary branch of the American Nuclear Society).
    - Fondazione Famiglia Legnanese Fellowship (1998)