Leading researchers from academia and industry are at Florida State University this week for the Florida Quantum Conference, a three-day event exploring the latest breakthroughs in quantum science and engineering.
This conference is the inaugural edition of what is planned as an annual event held at institutions around the state.
“This conference is a milestone for FSU,” said President Richard McCullough. “Just a few years ago, we began convening a relatively small group of faculty and partners for what we called the Dirac Quantum Discussions. Those early conversations created momentum, sparked new collaborations and made it clear there was real energy around quantum.”
To capitalize on that momentum, FSU joined 13 other universities to establish the Florida Alliance for Quantum Technology, a collaboration to make the State of Florida a leader in quantum technologies, accelerating commercialization and contributing to national defense.
Realizing the potential technological breakthrough promised by quantum science and engineering, or QSE, will require intense collaborative efforts among university researchers and industry — a need that the conference is helping to meet.
Conference attendees come from preeminent research institutions, industry and national laboratories. Presentations include topics such as quantum fluids and solids and their applications, leveraging quantum computers and machine learning to simulate biomolecular processes, commercializing quantum in Florida and more.
“As can be seen from some talks at this conference, quantum technologies are growing very rapidly,” said Professor Michael Shatruk, director of the FSU Quantum Initiative. “We are already discussing possible applications of such technologies for simulating properties of new materials, achieving more robust and secure communication, or increasing by orders of magnitude the sensitivity of biomedical devices. We hope these ambitious goals will be seeing their realization in the not-so-distant future.”
The Florida Quantum Conference continues through Saturday at the Kroto Auditorium in the FSU Chemical Sciences Laboratory.