Biography

As a member of the inaugural Gates class of 2001, I was able to catapult from my PhD in experimental physics to the forefront of quantum technology. After serving as a submarine officer in the U.S. Navy, I held positions as an experimental physicist at the Navy Research Laboratory and as a tenured associate professor of physics at the U.S. Naval Academy. Most recently, I was the founding Director of the Quantum Engineering and Sensing Technology (QuEST) Laboratory at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. There, our team built testbeds and physics platforms for ground breaking sensors based on atoms. Using this technology, we designed and are building the most sensitive gravitational sensor on Earth. This will eventually be used on an Earth-orbiting satellite to measure the Earth's mass as it changes over days and weeks. With this sensor, we can detect a change in less than a centimeter of water in the water table over an area smaller than a single county in the U.S. state of Texas. At these sensitivities, Earth scientists can predict tectonic activity, manage water depletion for agricultural planning, and even see volcanic activity before eruptions.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge PhD 2013
University of Cambridge MA (Cantab) 2005
University of Cambridge BA (affiliated) Natural Science 2003

Links

http://www.usna.edu/Users/physics/brereton
http://advquantum.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/peterbrereton