The University of Washington Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering seek outstanding candidates with expertise in quantum information science and technology (QIST) to apply for new full-time faculty positions. The new ECE and ME positions are supported by a UW College of Engineering cluster hiring initiative in QIST, while new CSE hires in QIST will be closely aligned with UW’s community of QIST researchers.

Professors Kai-Mei Fu, Martin Savage, and Nathan Wiebe join Microsoft and PNNL in $965 million effort to advance U.S. quantum computing.

A team led by UW Electrical & Computer Engineering professors Mo Li, Arka Majumdar and Karl Böhringer was selected to participate in the National Science Foundation’s Convergence Accelerator, a new initiative to accelerate use-inspired research addressing societal challenges. The team will be working to increase the capacity of quantum computing systems to retain and process information.

QuantumX steering committee member Dr. Nathan Wiebe, a senior scientist at the Pacific Northwest National Lab and an affiliate professor of physics at the UW, was part of the team that performed a record-breaking simulation of a chemical reaction using Google’s quantum computer. This result was published in the August 28 issue of Science Magazine and paves the way toward quantum chemistry, which would allow scientists to design better batteries or therapeutics for a cleaner and healthier world. Read more about this achievement in this Scientific American feature.

The National Science Foundation has awarded $3 million to establish a NSF Research Traineeship at the University of Washington for graduate students in quantum information science and technology. The new traineeship — known as Accelerating Quantum-Enabled Technologies, or AQET — will make the UW one of just a handful of universities with a formal, interdisciplinary QIST curriculum.

A team led by materials science and engineering professor Peter Pauzauskie used an infrared laser to cool a solid semiconductor by at least 20 degrees C, or 36 F, below room temperature. Their findings were reported in a paper published June 23 in Nature Communications. Lasers that can cool materials could be adapted in the future by scientists from various fields to enhance the performance of quantum sensors.

Quantum computing is the key to solving problems regular computers can’t handle, like designing silver-bullet drugs for cancer or improving materials for data storage. QuantumX is bringing together quantum expertise across the UW campus to stimulate research and teaching on all things quantum.

UW Professor Kai-Mei Fu, an experimental physics researcher and professor focusing on advanced quantum technologies, sat down with Dr. Krysta Svore, general manager of quantum systems and software at Microsoft, for the latest episode of Microsoft’s Quantum Impact series.

UW physicists Martin Savage and David Herzog co-authored a report to the Nuclear Science Advisory Committee that assesses the potential impact of quantum information science on nuclear physics and describes the unique contributions nuclear physics research could make to accelerate advances in quantum information science.