Celebrating a year marked by new multimillion-dollar government investments in quantum technology, rising engagement among end-users, and increasing coordination around education and training, experts in quantum science and technology from around the globe will come together on October 21 and 22 in Chicago for the annual Chicago Quantum Summit. The Summit, now in its seventh year, will convene leading experts from government, industry, and academia to discuss the latest challenges and successes for a field that is experiencing new levels of attention and growth.
“This has been a ground-breaking year for the global quantum ecosystem with remarkable advances in research, growing commercial endeavors, and expanded efforts to create a robust workforce,” said David Awschalom, the Liew Family Professor in Molecular Engineering and Physics at the University of Chicago, director of the Chicago Quantum Exchange, and director of Q-NEXT, a Department of Energy Quantum Information Science Center. “The Summit will provide participants with an opportunity to hear about recent developments and help explore future directions in quantum science and technology.”
Regional Leadership
JB Pritzker, Governor of Illinois; Joe Altepeter, program manager at the Defense Advance Research Projects Agency (DARPA); and Pete Shadbolt, co-founder and chief scientific officer of quantum computing company PsiQuantum, will discuss how their organizations are investing in quantum technologies and respective connections to the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park announced this summer. A panel of federal, state, and municipal leaders will also discuss building the quantum research-to-commercialization pathways to enable future large-scale initiatives.
“DARPA’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative is underway, and we’ve begun engaging with companies interested in being part of this national quantum computing effort,” said Altepeter. The Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI) will benchmark quantum computing applications and algorithms as well as significantly expand efforts to validate quantum computer hardware progress. “As we move forward, the DARPA-Illinois Quantum Proving Ground to be located at the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park in South Chicago will be critical to the success of QBI, providing a world-class quantum research and testing campus where we can verify and validate quantum computing claims in order to separate hype from reality.”
A conversation between Walter Massey, previous head of the National Science Foundation and Argonne National Laboratory, and Thomas Searles, Associate Professor at the University of Illinois Chicago, will discuss their perspectives on quantum information science and engineering today, the opportunity to broaden participation, and components needed to drive overall success in the field.
Industry Leadership
Summit keynotes will include quantum technology leaders who will share their perspectives on the growing industry, including Noel Goddard, chief executive officer of quantum networking company Qunnect; Matthew Kinsella, chief executive officer of Infleqtion; and Charina Chou, chief operating officer of Google Quantum AI. Summit attendees will also hear from a panel of quantum technology startups about their efforts to launch new quantum technologies into the market.
“Historically, the success of digital networking arose from a co-evolution of hardware, protocols and infrastructure,” said Goddard. “As government, academic, and industry testbeds are coming online, events like the Summit offer a forum for different stakeholders in the ecosystem to shape the future success of quantum networks.”
Attendees will hear from a panel of startup founders from TreQ, SynthBits, and Qolab, which are all working toward advancing quantum technologies. The panel will be moderated by Karen Kerr, managing director of venture capital firm Exposition Ventures.
Kinsella, who was appointed CEO of Infleqtion earlier this year, also comes from a ventures background.
“Quantum is a transformative leap that will address some of the world’s most critical issues, from revolutionizing medical research to optimizing global energy systems to improving resilience against threats to national security,” said Kinsella. “The potential is vast, and achieving it demands deep collaboration across governments, industries, researchers and academia. Events like the Chicago Quantum Summit are essential for convening leaders across all of these areas so that, together, we can accelerate our progress toward the promise of quantum technologies.”
The Summit will feature presentations from winners of the Boeing Quantum Creators Prize, which celebrates the achievements of early-career researchers working in exciting new directions of quantum science. The research of the prize winners spans the breadth of the quantum field, including computing, networks, materials, and sensing.
In conjunction with the Chicago Quantum Summit, Bowen High School will hold a family-engaged Quantum Game Night led by the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering’s STAGE Center and the Chicago Quantum Exchange. The event, located near the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, aims to introduce the local community to the field of quantum and its emerging career opportunities. It includes the participation of partners across the region, including the NSF Enabling Practical-scale Quantum Computing (EPiQC) Expedition, and LabEscape from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
This year’s Summit is open to the broader quantum community and public virtually. For more details about the speakers and agenda and to register for the livestream, visit the official 2024 Chicago Quantum Summit page. Quantum Game Night at Bowen High School on October 22, 2024 from 5:00 to 7:00 P.M. requires no registration, and is open to the public.