Paola Cappellaro

Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Professor of Physics

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Nuclear Science and Engineering Department
Research Laboratory of Electronics

Room 26-303
77 Massachusetts Avenue	Email: pcappell-at-mit.edu
Cambridge, MA 02139-4307	Tel: 617-253-8137

Short Bio

Full CV

Paola Cappellaro is Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and 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. Her work has been recently recognized by the Young Investigator Award from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and a Merkator Fellowship.

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)
- Instructor for "22.02 Introduction to Applied Nuclear Physics" (2010-2018)
- Instructor for "22.101 Applied Nuclear Physics" (2013)
- 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

- 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)

Last update - 2022.03 --- http://accessibility.mit.edu