Cliff Sun

I study physics, math, and computer science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. I am also a 2026 Barry M. Goldwater and Astronaut Scholar.

Broadly speaking, I’m interested in the synergy of quantum hardware and algorithms towards building a quantum computer. I’ve published 2 first-author papers (+ submitted first-author paper) and filed a patent on the applications of one-dimensional superconductivity in classical and quantum logic. My work has bridged superconductors to particle physics, connected diodes to broken space and time symmetries, and solved a 20 year problem in the nanowire community.

I also hold a joint research position at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, where I’m currently figuring out how to scale holographic quantum circuits. Previously, I wrote a generative QML algorithm and investigated quantum annealing.

In the past, I’ve led a NASA competition team designing a cryogenic propellent loss mitigation strategy during transfer for the Artemis Missions. We were invited to present our work to NASA with concepts integrated into the Artemis mission architecture. I also play basketball, lift, eat a lot of food, and drink coffee.

You can reach me at cliffxs2 [at] illinois [dot] edu.