Dr. Celia Merzbacher is the Deputy Director of the Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C), a consortium that aims to enable and grow the US quantum industry. QED-C is supported by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and more than 130 industry and academic members and is managed by SRI International. Previously, Dr. Merzbacher was Vice President for Innovative Partnerships at the Semiconductor Research Corporation, a consortium of the semiconductor industry. In 2003-2008, she was Assistant Director for Technology R&D in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, where she oversaw the establishment and coordination of the National Nanotechnology Initiative and served as Executive Director of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Dr. Merzbacher began her career as a materials scientist at the US Naval Research Laboratory in Washington D.C. She is on the advisory board of several of the National Quantum Initiative (NQI) research centers and previously served as Chair of the National Materials and Manufacturing Board of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine and on the Board of Directors of ANSI.