Prof. Shannon Whitlock is professor at the University of Strasbourg (UNISTRA) and the director of the Exotic Quantum Matter laboratory at the European Center for Quantum Sciences. Shannon's expertise concerns the experimental manipulation of atoms prepared at nearly absolute zero temperature using laser cooling and trapping. He is strongly involved in major research and training programmes at the national and European levels and is coordinator of the new public infrastructure for quantum computing aQCess - Atomic Quantum Computing as a Service, supported by the “Plan d’Investissment d’Avenir” of the "Agence National de la Recherche" and the “Programme et Equipements Prioritaire de Recherche Quantique” (PEPR) within the French national quantum strategy. He earned his PhD at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne Australia, and has since held several research positions in Amsterdam, Heidelberg, and Strasbourg and received several awards including a Marie Curie individual fellowship, an Emmy Noether grant of the German Physical Society and the "Chaire attractivité recherche” prize as part of the research chair programme of the Initiative d'Excellence (IdEx) at UNISTRA.