Ben McElfresh

Ben McElfresh has a long and varied work history. Ben began their career in 2006 as an Intern at Quantum Design, where they worked on industrial design projects. In 2015, they founded McElfresh Mechanical LLC, where they provided consulting and contract engineering services. In 2018, they took a Technical Scientist role at the University of Geneva, where they developed, assembled, tested, and designed an optical cryostat for a Bruker Vertex70 FTIR spectrometer. In 2020, they became a Project Engineer at Parker Hannifin, where they led the re-design and managed the implementation of mechanical design changes to meet industry specifications. In 2021, they were hired as a Senior Innovation Associate at Newcastle University, where they led collaborations between academics and SMEs in the North East to develop innovative products and processes. Currently, they are a Senior Product Engineer at ORCA Computing, where they are working on scalable quantum computing using proprietary ORCA quantum memory technology.

Ben McElfresh obtained a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Riverside between 2005 and 2009. In 2015, they earned a Professional Engineering License from the California Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists and the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying. In 2020, they completed a Negotiation, Mediation and Conflict Resolution Specialization from Coursera. In 2021, they became a Chartered Engineer from the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET).