Aaron Douglas O'Connell (born March 5, 1981, in Allentown, Pennsylvania) is an American experimental quantum physicist.

In 2005, he received his bachelor's degree from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida.

While working under Andrew N. Cleland and John M. Martinis at the University of California, Santa Barbara, he created the world's first quantum machine.

[2][3] His measurements of the quantum machine constitute the first direct observations of quantized behavior in the motion of a visible object[4][5] and led the journal Science to honor his work as the Breakthrough of the Year in 2010.

[1] O'Connell spoke on the subject at TED2011 in Long Beach, California.