Seagate, a global data storage and memory technology company, has joined the Chicago Quantum Exchange as a corporate partner.
The Fremont, California-based company provides mass-capacity storage to support a range of industries, including healthcare, media, security, and energy. Seagate and the CQE will work together on sponsored research collaborations and talent recruitment.
"Seagate has a long history of sponsoring, and working closely with, leading university research groups to pioneer new technologies,” said Edward Gage, VP of Seagate Research. “We are excited to announce our new strategic relationship with the Chicago Quantum Exchange. We strongly believe working closely with this Midwest hub of innovation will significantly advance quantum technologies, which are integral to hard disk drive technology."
Researchers are working to develop quantum memory systems that are capable of storing huge volumes of quantum data. Qubits, the building blocks of quantum computers, are highly susceptible to interference from the surrounding environment; even the smallest disturbance can cause errors or data loss. Seagate is working to overcome challenges to further develop quantum technology for practical use in hard drives.
“High-volume data storage is an important future application of quantum technology, one with potential use in quantum sensing and imaging, quantum computing, and quantum cryptography and long-distance networking,” said David Awschalom, the Liew Family Professor of Molecular Engineering, senior scientist at Argonne National Laboratory, and director of the CQE. “We are excited to partner with Seagate in advancing research that will bring these applications to fruition.”
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. The CQE includes about 50 corporate, international, nonprofit, and regional partners.