Dr. Celia Merzbacher is the Associate Director of the Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C), a recently created consortium that aims to enable and strengthen the U.S. commercial quantum industry. QED-C, part of the National Quantum Initiative, is supported by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and industry 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 that invests in fundamental university research on behalf of its semiconductor company members. 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. Dr. Merzbacher began her career as a materials scientist at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington D.C., where her research led to six patents and more than 50 technical publications. She has served as Chair of the National Materials and Manufacturing Board of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, on the Board of Directors of ANSI, as well as on advisory boards of several university research centers.