The Team at the Quantum Institute have wide-ranging research and industry experience and academic knowledge in quantum theory, computer technology, and related topics.
The founding members of the Institute consist of Ruth Kastner and Bernice Kastner, both established academic researchers in mathematics, math education, physics and philosophy, and between them, a long list of peer-reviewed publications and books (see, e.g., ruthekastner.org).
The third founding member is Charles Hagelgans, an electronics engineer with an interest in creative applications of physical theory to technological innovation.
Our current Research Associates:
Andreas Schlatter, Ph.D
Andreas earned his doctorate in mathematics at ETH Zurich in 1994 and was a member of Princeton University’s Department of Mathematics from 1994-96, where he did research in Yang-Mills field theory.
Andreas began his professional career in Asset Management at what is now UBS AG. He was appointed Head of Asset Management for the Switzerland region in 2009. In this role he was also responsible for investment funds in the EMEA region, among other things, and was a member of both the Asset Management division’s executive committee and UBS’s executive board for Switzerland. From 2014-2016 he assumed the role of Global Head of Distribution for the Asset Management division.
Andreas was Chairman of Swiss Banking’s Commission for Asset Management for 10 years and was a member of the Swiss Federal Commission for Occupational Pensions. Since 2016 he has been a member of various boards of directors outside the financial industry in a full-time capacity. He has been a member of FINMA’s Board of Directors since 2020.
Andreas has done pioneering work in applying the transactional picture to general relativity, and has collaborated with Ruth Kastner on a number of publications providing progress in the search for quantum gravity as well as an improved understanding of the relationship of thermodynamics to the quantum level.
Ranjiv Singh Virik
We are proud to introduce our newest Research Associate, Ranjiv Singh Virik. Ranjiv is Co-founder and Executive Director of Novagni, a provider of fund and investment information and performance analytics. Ranjiv currently oversees and spearheads the development of Novagni’s analytics systems and software platforms for commercial use. He is also Managing Director of Novamond (Software Development) and Executive Director of Piql Malaysia (Archiving Technology).
Prior to Ranjiv’s entreprenurial successes, he pursued advanced study in theoretical physics. He holds a B.S. with honours and M.S. in Theoretical Physics from U. Melbourne, as well as a Post-Graduate Diploma in Computer Science from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. His M.S. thesis involved a subtle analysis of anomalies in chiral field theories and discovered a solution connecting to the Wheeler-Feynman theory of fields, which underlies the transactional formulation.