ColdQuanta hires research president, engineering SVP

BOULDER — Quantum computing company ColdQuanta Inc. has hired Chester Kennedy as its new president of research and security solutions and Barry Behnken as executive vice president of engineering.

Kennedy previously held senior roles with Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT), and Behnken led engineering efforts at advanced vision hardware company AEye Co., according to a ColdQuanta news release.

“Based on my experience at some of today’s most transformative technology companies, I believe ColdQuanta is positioned for exponential scale,” Behnken said in the release. “Quantum technologies are creating a monumental shift in how we approach nearly every industry from healthcare, to defense, logistics and more. As a pioneer in cold atom quantum technology, ColdQuanta is leading this charge.”

The new executives join the company at an inflection point for ColdQuanta, just months after Scott Faris was hired as CEO.

ColdQuanta has been prepping products and services for clients, hiring senior executives and readying a funding round.

Dan Caruso, a co-founder and former executive of Level 3 Communications and Zayo Group Holdings Inc., has been board chair and interim chief executive since March.

The company in early spring named C-Suite execs over commercialization and finance. In May, it hired Sarah Schupp, former vice president of business banking at Boulder-based Elevations Credit Union, to oversee the company’s branding and human resources.

Caruso in May told a London-based telecom industry journal that ColdQuanta would deliver a quantum computer this year. Some of ColdQuanta’s computing work will include “quantum research as a service” for clients.

ColdQuanta has been developing technology to freeze atoms to near-absolute zero, at which point they can be used to create highly accurate sensors for various applications.

Quantum computing has been a largely theoretical area of research but is said to herald advances in data storage and computing.

The Boulder Valley is rapidly evolving into a hub for quantum computing.Officials with Quantinuum, a Broomfield-based quantum computing company newly spun out of Honeywell International Inc. (Nasdaq: HON), told BizWest last month that the region could soon be the center of the “Quantum Front Range”

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