Dr. Dean Kassmann is EVP of Global Engineering at IonQ, where he oversees hardware and software engineering for all of IonQ’s product families worldwide. He works across the company to incorporate new technology and products in quantum computing, quantum networking, quantum cybersecurity and quantum sensing into IonQ’s engineering development process, from engineering through to manufacturing. Dr. Kassmann also oversees IonQ’s application development for its quantum computers and drives collaboration across IonQ’s global quantum product families to build and deliver our unified quantum platform to customers.
Dr. Kassmann has over 30 years of leadership in software, hardware, and technology development and has contributed to a variety of technology areas throughout his career, including traditional chemical engineering, supply chain planning and optimization, rockets, space, and quantum.
Prior to joining IonQ, Dr. Kassmann was Senior Director of Advanced Technology at Blue Origin, where he established and led the team responsible for company-wide applied research supporting Blue Origin’s launch vehicle, engines, and in-space product lines. He was part of the small team that developed the first series of New Shepard rockets, which successfully performed the first powered, vertical soft landing from space, and later ran the Flight Sciences organization, which developed the initial architecture for the orbital New Glenn rocket. Dr. Kassmann went on to establish the first dedicated research and development team within Blue Origin, where he led technology development from early idea generation through fielded capabilities across multiple disciplines for Blue’s current and future products.
Prior to Blue Origin, Dr. Kassmann held roles at Amazon, where he invented the autonomous system that manages order fulfillment flow across Amazon’s supply chain, and at Aspen Technology, where he created the modeling tools, advanced control algorithms, and planning engines used for real-time operations in refineries, chemical plants, and pharmaceutical manufacturing. He holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Rice University.