[Image: Chicago Quantum Exchange]
In its recently released annual report, the Chicago Quantum Exchange (CQE) reported on its progress during 2021 in attracting corporate, academic and international partners, toward its goal of building scale, training and collaboration in quantum information science in the region surrounding the US midwestern city.
Describing itself as “an intellectual hub for advancing the science and engineering of quantum information,” CQE is an alliance of the University of Chicago and five other key academic and government partners in the Chicago region: Argonne National Laboratory, Fermilab, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and Northwestern University. The exchange’s core goals involve forging collaborations in quantum science among academia, industry and government; advancing research programs; boosting training capabilities in quantum science and engineering; and “driving the local and national quantum economy.”
New partners and funding
Toward those ends, according to the report, CQE attracted 11 new corporate partners during 2021, bringing the total number of partners in the exchange to more than 30. The list includes household-name firms like IBM and Intel; suppliers such as Toptica Photonics and Zurich Instruments; and niche quantum players like Rigetti Computing and ColdQuanta. Also numbered among CQE’s partners are selected international research centers such as QuTech (Netherlands) and the Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel).
In mid-March 2022, CQE announced that it had added four additional corporate partners. One of these is ASM International, an international manufacturer of semiconductor wafer-processing technology described in a CQE release as “a key contributor to the quantum supply chain.” The three other new partners include Atom Computing, a developer of trapped-neutral-atom systems; EeroQ, a startup working toward a quantum computer based on electrons trapped on the surface of superfluid helium; and Quantinuum, a business combination of Honeywell Quantum Solutions and Cambridge Quantum that focuses on integrating quantum hardware and software for specific applications and use cases.
The annual report notes that CQE members pulled in more than US$134 million in federal funding for quantum research during 2021, across a range of topic areas. Among other notable developments was an alliance between IBM and the University of Illinois involving a US$200 million strategic investment “to increase access to technology education and skill development.” The exchange also reported other training and education milestones such as the awarding of the University of Chicago’s first Ph.D. specifically in quantum science and engineering, and fellowships to advance diversity in the field.
Duality Accelerator
Also during 2021, CQE and several partners launched a quantum business accelerator program, Duality. Similar to the successful Luminate accelerator program in the Rochester, NY, area, which focuses on early-stage optics, photonics and imaging companies, Duality aims to advance the business prospects of selected startups in quantum science and technology.
The accelerator’s first cohort of startups includes six firms involved in quantum random number generators, diamond materials for quantum systems, cloud-based platforms for quantum, and quantum-focused simulation, design and optimization software. The six firms are currently in the thick of a one-year intensive accelerator program that includes US$50,000 of unrestricted funding, mentorship and entrepreneurial and technical training, exposure to local industry connections and “immersion in Chicago’s rapidly developing quantum community.”