Who We Are
The Chicago Quantum Exchange (CQE) is an intellectual hub in the Midwest that advances the science and engineering of quantum information, trains the future quantum workforce, and drives the quantum economy by connecting leading universities, national labs, and industry partners. The recipient of millions of dollars in government and corporate investment and home to some of the world’s top experts in the field, the CQE community is a central driver of US leadership in quantum technologies.
The CQE is based at the University of Chicago and anchored by the US Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Northwestern University, and Purdue University. Our community includes more than 50 corporate, international, nonprofit, and regional partners and is one of the largest collaborative teams working on quantum science in the world.
Our mission is to lead the nation to an inclusive and sustainable quantum economy by connecting leading academic talent, top scientific facilities, and a diverse industry base that includes Fortune 500 companies, quantum startups, and a wide variety of sectors poised to adopt quantum technologies.
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Advancing Research
Harnessing science and engineering to develop quantum technology to revolutionize communications, computing, and sensing.
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Education & Training
Educating the quantum workforce of tomorrow through academic programs, internships, certificates, and career explorations with industry.
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Quantum Economy
Partnering across industries to build quantum technology and enable job and business creation throughout Chicago, the Midwest, and the United States.
What We’ve Done
The CQE community now spans Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana. In recent years, we have:
- Received more than a billion dollars in corporate and government investment.
- Worked together to create the foundation for the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, a multibillion-dollar quantum park on Chicago's Southeast Side. The first-of-its-kind development, announced in July 2024, will include the multimillion-dollar Illinois-DARPA Quantum Proving Ground and be anchored by PsiQuantum. Its leadership includes CQE members.
- Been named as a US Tech Hub for quantum technologies by the US Economic Development Administration. The CQE-led Bloch Quantum Tech Hub is the nation’s only quantum innovation team rallying entire sectors around society’s most urgent challenges — to combat financial fraud, secure the energy grid, and accelerate the development of life-saving drugs.
- Built four of the 10 National Quantum Initiative Act research centers — more than any other region.
- Developed one of the nation’s longest quantum networks — 124 miles and growing.
- Launched Duality, the nation’s first quantum startup accelerator, contributing to the region’s vibrant entrepreneurial culture. Since 2017, Illinois quantum startups have raised $33.2 million through 27 deals — the second-highest number of deals by quantum startups in the nation.
- Created one of the nation’s largest quantum-ready talent pipelines. Our universities and colleges award more 60,000 degrees and certificates annually in quantum-relevant skills such as computer and information sciences, engineering, mathematics and statistics, physical sciences, and more.
Members
CQE members are focused on developing new ways of understanding and exploiting the laws of quantum mechanics, the fundamental yet counterintuitive theory that governs nature at its smallest scales. The overarching aim is to apply research innovations to develop radically new types of devices, materials, and techniques for quantum communication, quantum computing, and quantum sensing.
The Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering and the Physical Sciences Division at the University of Chicago leads research in quantum computing, quantum communication, and quantum sensing. In addition to advancing quantum information science and engineering research, these groups lead the education and training of tomorrow’s quantum workforce at the undergraduate, graduate and professional levels. UChicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering also provides the administrative home for the CQE.
Argonne National Laboratory is a U.S. Department of Energy multidisciplinary science and engineering research center, where world-class researchers work to solve some of the biggest questions facing humanity. Argonne leverages multi-disciplinary teams, world-class facilities, and powerful scientific tools to confront some of the most profound scientific and technological challenges in quantum information science, and leads Q-NEXT, one of five National Quantum Information Science Research Centers awarded by the Department of Energy. It is a collaboration involving the world’s leading minds from national laboratories, universities, and the private sector.
Fermilab is America’s particle physics and accelerator laboratory, leveraging the power of quantum science and technology to tackle problems in experimental and theoretical particle physics. Partnering with other institutions, it draws on its world-class expertise in superconducting technology, communications and networks, electronics and controls systems, and theory and algorithms to advance quantum information science and to solve the intractable problems of matter, energy, space and time.
At the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, the Illinois Quantum Information Science and Technology Center (IQUIST) brings together experts within the university community to collaborate on the ongoing research in quantum information science. IQUIST researchers and collaborators are working at the forefront of developing quantum devices, quantum computing algorithms, and new protocols for quantum communications.
The University of Wisconsin–Madison focuses on research in quantum computing and networking, quantum sensing, and quantum materials. The Wisconsin Quantum Institute (WQI) hosts research on four of the most prominent physical qubit implementations: silicon quantum dot, superconducting, neutral atom and NV-center qubits. With Ph.D. programs in quantum-related fields and an M.S. program in physics-quantum computing — the first in the United States dedicated to quantum computing — they are helping to lead the way into the quantum computing future and building a new era of quantum workforce.
The Initiative at Northwestern for Quantum Information Research and Engineering (INQUIRE) reflects the University’s broad and deep expertise in quantum science, as well as its collaborative culture that harnesses thought leadership from across multiple disciplines, including physics, engineering and chemistry. INQUIRE’s mission also includes a commitment to education and outreach, efforts that provide current and future students with exposure to state-of-the-art quantum science research. In doing so, INQUIRE prepares these individuals to help make breakthrough contributions in the quantum workforce of today — and tomorrow.
The Purdue Quantum Science and Engineering Institute (PQSEI) brings together leading quantum researchers and leverages collaborations with industry, government and academia to drive discovery of quantum phenomena and development of chip-scale quantum systems for tomorrow’s technology. PQSEI consolidates the strengths of approximately 60 researchers in chemistry, computer science, electrical and computer engineering, mathematics, and materials science to support the university’s efforts to help lead the way to a robust quantum economy.
Partners
The Chicago Quantum Exchange collaborates with industry, nonprofit, international and regional partners to accelerate progress in the field of quantum information, expand career opportunities for the next generation of quantum-ready scientists, and attract investment and engagement that crosses traditional boundaries to benefit our broader community.
Corporate partners collaborate with CQE scientists and expand career opportunities for the next generation of quantum-ready scientists and engineers. Together, they advance efforts at the forefront of quantum science and engineering that bridge institutional boundaries.
Partnerships with non-profit organizations enable opportunities for collaboration across traditional boundaries, attracting investment and engagement that benefits our broader community.
International partners contribute to the global network of scientists and facilities needed to build quantum technologies and applications.
Partnerships with regional partners, usually academic institutions with multiple existing collaborations, enable joint opportunities to strengthen and diversify quantum information science and engineering across the Midwest.