Dean is a postdoctoral fellow in the Quantum Research Group of Stellenbosch University and NITheCS in South Africa, under the supervision of Prof Francesco Petruccione. His current research is focused on the intersection of quantum computing and neuromorphic computing, to find an optimal hybridisation of these technologies.
Dean completed his BSc and BSc Honours at the University of the Witwatersrand, majoring in astronomy, astrophysics, and theoretical physics. After this he completed a NITheCS internship with Prof Francesco Petruccione and Prof Ilya Sinayskiy (University of KwaZulu-Natal – UKZN) which was an introductory research project on quantum computing. This led to a Master’s degree with the same supervisors at UKZN, which was based on an application of Open Quantum Systems techniques to model the noise of IBM quantum computers. In 2026 he graduated with his PhD in Quantum Neuromorphic Computing from Stellenbosch University.
His research interests include machine learning and quantum algorithms, which are central to the idea and aims of neuromorphic quantum computing, especially for applications such as artificial intelligence and deep learning.
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