Andrew D. Hibbs

Andrew Dennis “Andy” Hibbs was born in 1963 in Shrewsbury, England. He attended the University of Cambridge where he pursued a Master’s Degree in Engineering while acting as the captain of his rowing crew at Christ College, coaching girls’ rowing, and serving as a math and physics tutor. His graduate work focused on the properties of the then newly-discovered high-temperature superconductors, and he was awarded a PhD in Physics in 1989. He was offered a post-doctoral fellowship by the University of Cambridge, but declined in favor of pursuing a career in industrial physics.

Andy began his career with Quantum Magnetics (QM) in San Diego, a company founded a few years prior to advance magnetic sensing using both superconducting and conventional technologies. He made significant contributions to the development and commercialization of the first SQUID AC susceptometer by QM’s sister company Quantum Design, a technology used today in many laboratories worldwide. Andy became the President and CEO of QM in 1994, and in less than one year, he solidified one of the most significant deals in the industry by signing an agreement with IBM to make their extensive superconducting technology portfolio available for commercial development through QM. This joint licensing and development agreement brought together much of the world’s leading scientific talent in high-Tc superconductivity for the benefit of the commercial market.

During his tenure, Andy shepherded the effort to develop methods for explosives detection using nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR). This pioneering technology enables the efficient discovery of buried landmines by targeting specific molecules found in explosives, thus saving lives on the battlefield and enabling humanitarian demining in peacetime. The success of this technology led to QM’s acquisition by InVision and eventually by General Electric Security’s Magnetics Center of Excellence. For his contributions and with the support of leaders in academic, industrial and financial communities, Andy was named “1994 Person of the Year” by Superconductor Week, a leading worldwide trade publication.

Andy left QM in 1998 to found Quantum Applied Science & Research (QUASAR), Inc., which went on to become a leading firm in the low-frequency electromagnetic (EM) sensing community. Under Andy’s direction, QUASAR has developed and introduced new types of electromagnetic sensing systems that go beyond traditional modalities. With his deep background in the EM field, Andy has led a number of advancements in the EM sector, including the first free-space electric-field sensor, the first system that can measure all six components of the free-space electromagnetic vector, new methods to measure ionic currents in cells and transmembrane proteins, and new methods to noninvasively measure bioelectric signals such as heart rhythm and brainwaves. In 2002, Andy founded the firm Electronic BioSciences to focus on biotechnology, and in 2005 he formed QUASAR Federal Systems to address needs in the defense and geosciences industries. Andy also started Advanced Neurometrics to pursue medical applications for QUASAR’s epilepsy monitoring technology, and licensed QUASAR’s brainwave measurement technology to Wearable Sensing. In 2010, interest from the oil industry led to the formation of GroundMetrics, Inc., to address exploration and process monitoring needs in the oil and gas industries. These companies have gone on win accolades and thrive in their respective fields, providing employment and career development for over 100 people in the San Diego area.

Andy’s innovations and inventions are too numerous to list. Earlier in his career, he worked on landmine detection and explosives detection for airline security, and his later innovations include sensing systems for applications ranging from sniper detection, lightning strike location, heart and brain signal collection, DNA sequencing, epilepsy monitoring, oil exploration, semiconductor production process monitoring, and many others. He contributed numerous articles to journals and conferences, was invited to submit several book chapters, often served as a scientific peer reviewer, and is an inventor of over 20 patents and applications in the US and abroad. His many awards include the R&D 100 Awards in 1992, 1995 and 2010, the TR 100 Award from MIT Technology Review and the Technology Innovation of the Year Award from Aviation Week & Space Technology in 1997, Technology of the Year Award, Sensors Category, Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) in 1998, and Grand Winner of the SBIR Technology of the Year award in 1999. Most recently, he was awarded Gold at the World’s Best Technology Marketplace competition.

Andy passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on January 8, 2015, leaving behind his wife, 4 children, his mother and father, his sister and brother, and his 5 companies, QUASAR, QUASAR Federal Systems, Advanced Neurometrics, Electronic Biosciences, and GroundMetrics.