Chicago Quantum Summit to gather international experts

Industry and academic leaders from US, Australia, Canada, UK to share research, discuss workforce development, and build toward a global quantum alliance

Top experts in quantum technology from around the globe will gather at the University of Chicago on Oct. 25 to discuss the future of quantum information science and strategies to build a quantum workforce.

The second annual Chicago Quantum Summit, hosted by the Chicago Quantum Exchange, will engage scientific and government leaders and the industries that will drive the applications of emerging quantum information science. Speakers include technology leaders at IBM, Intel, Boeing, Applied Materials, Toshiba Research Europe, the University of Waterloo, and the University of New South Wales, Australia, and the Quantum Economic Development Consortium.

“The Summit provides an opportunity to build and strengthen collaborations that span beyond our national and academic boundaries,” says David Awschalom, the Liew Family Professor of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago, senior scientist at Argonne National Laboratory and director of the Chicago Quantum Exchange. “Through joint research projects with industry and national laboratories, we can leverage the unique capabilities of each organization to accelerate progress and push the boundaries of quantum science and engineering.”

Chicago is increasingly seen as a world-leading hub for quantum information science. It is home to the Chicago Quantum Exchange, a catalyst for advancing academic and industrial efforts in the science and engineering of quantum information. Headquartered at the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, the CQE is a partnership between the University of Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory,  Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Northwestern University. It brings together more than 100 researchers from across the Midwest, and is home to one of the largest collaborative teams working on quantum science in the world.

The Chicago Quantum Exchange also has six industry partners—IBM, Boeing, Applied Materials, Inc., ColdQuanta, Inc., HRL Laboratories LLC and Quantum Opus LLC—that enable industry-academic collaborations and provide opportunities to the next generation of quantum scientists and engineers.

“Chicago plays a crucial role in our nation’s efforts to unlock the potential of quantum research,” notes University of Chicago President Robert J. Zimmer. “By bringing together private and public universities, national laboratories, and companies, with local, state and federal support, we are working to create the nation’s leading center for research in quantum technology, and to train the quantum workforce of tomorrow.”

On Oct. 25, the daytime program at the University of Chicago will include Mike Mayberry, chief technology officer at Intel; Jay Gambetta, IBM Fellow and vice president, IBM Q; Charles Toups, vice president and general manager for disruptive computing & networks at Boeing; Robert Visser, Ph.D., managing director for advanced chemistry and materials at Applied Materials, Inc.; Andrew Shields, assistant managing director, Toshiba Research Europe Ltd.; Michelle Simmons, laureate fellow and director of the Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology at the University of New South Wales; Thomas Jennewein, science lead for QEYSS at the University of Waterloo; Linda S. Sapochak, division director for the Division of Materials Research at the National Science Foundation; and Joseph S. Broz, Ph.D.,Executive Director and Governing Board Chairman, The Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C), and Vice President Strategy and Applied Sciences Department Head, SRI International. These leaders will discuss their organization’s work in quantum research and technology, progress in relevant quantum fields, and opportunities to develop the quantum workforce.

At 6 p.m. on Oct. 24, the Chicago Quantum Exchange will also host a public event titled “Solving Unsolvable Problems: The Future of Quantum Computing,” at the Chicago Symphony Center, 220 S. Michigan Ave. in Chicago. The event will include a keynote talk by Talia Gershon, IBM’s director of research strategy and growth initiatives, and a conversation with Gershon and Awschalom moderated by Gizmodo writer Ryan Mandelbaum.

More information on the summit, including a registration page for the public event, is available on the Chicago Quantum Exchange website. Summit programming, including the public event, will be webcast.