IEM Distinguished Lecturers Seminar: Quantum Computing: What is it, how does it work, and what are the major engineering challenges?
Coffee and cookies will be served at 13:00 before the seminar.
Abstract
Quantum computing offers the potential for an exponential speed-up of certain classes of computational problems, and, as such, the development of a practical quantum computer has been a field of intense research over the past two decades. Yet, it is still early in the development of these systems, as we have just reached the point at which laboratory experiments have shown that quantum computers can outperform classical computers at certain computational tasks. As such, it is an exciting time in the field, analogous to the early days of classical computer development. In this talk, I will describe the use of microwave and electronic technology in quantum computing, with a focus on the superconducting qubit technology which was used to show that a quantum computer is capable of post-classical computation. The talk will be geared towards engineers with no background in quantum computing and will provide a glimpse into the fundamentals, contemporary system architectures, recent experiments, and, finally, major engineering challenges that must be overcome if fault tolerant quantum computing is to become a reality. Google’s state-of-the-art Sycamore quantum computer as an example.
Bio
Joseph Bardin received the PhD degree in electrical engineering from the California Institute of Technology in 2009. In 2010, he joined the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he is currently a Full Professor. His research group currently focuses on low temperature integrated circuits with applications in radio astronomy and the quantum information sciences. In 2017, he joined the Google AI Quantum team as a visiting faculty researcher and, in addition to his university appointment, he currently leads Google’s efforts to develop electronics for their current and future quantum computers. Professor Bardin was a recipient of a 2011 DARPA Young Faculty Award, a 2014 NSF CAREER Award, a 2015 Office of Naval Research YIP Award, a 2016 UMass Amherst College of Engineering Barbara H. and Joseph I. Goldstein Outstanding Junior Faculty Award, a 2016 UMass Amherst Award for Outstanding Accomplishments in Research and Creative Activity, a 2020 IEEE MTT-S Outstanding Young Engineer Award, and the 2022 IEEE MTT-S Microwave Magazine Best Paper Award.
Abstract
Quantum computing offers the potential for an exponential speed-up of certain classes of computational problems, and, as such, the development of a practical quantum computer has been a field of intense research over the past two decades. Yet, it is still early in the development of these systems, as we have just reached the point at which laboratory experiments have shown that quantum computers can outperform classical computers at certain computational tasks. As such, it is an exciting time in the field, analogous to the early days of classical computer development. In this talk, I will describe the use of microwave and electronic technology in quantum computing, with a focus on the superconducting qubit technology which was used to show that a quantum computer is capable of post-classical computation. The talk will be geared towards engineers with no background in quantum computing and will provide a glimpse into the fundamentals, contemporary system architectures, recent experiments, and, finally, major engineering challenges that must be overcome if fault tolerant quantum computing is to become a reality. Google’s state-of-the-art Sycamore quantum computer as an example.
Bio
Joseph Bardin received the PhD degree in electrical engineering from the California Institute of Technology in 2009. In 2010, he joined the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he is currently a Full Professor. His research group currently focuses on low temperature integrated circuits with applications in radio astronomy and the quantum information sciences. In 2017, he joined the Google AI Quantum team as a visiting faculty researcher and, in addition to his university appointment, he currently leads Google’s efforts to develop electronics for their current and future quantum computers. Professor Bardin was a recipient of a 2011 DARPA Young Faculty Award, a 2014 NSF CAREER Award, a 2015 Office of Naval Research YIP Award, a 2016 UMass Amherst College of Engineering Barbara H. and Joseph I. Goldstein Outstanding Junior Faculty Award, a 2016 UMass Amherst Award for Outstanding Accomplishments in Research and Creative Activity, a 2020 IEEE MTT-S Outstanding Young Engineer Award, and the 2022 IEEE MTT-S Microwave Magazine Best Paper Award.
Practical information
- General public
- Free