Quantum computing has exploded onto the scene and increasingly gained traction as the computing field moves toward the end of Moore’s Law. Viewed as a next step in improving the speed and efficiency of computing and tackling increasingly intricate problems, quantum computing uses quantum mechanical properties to express and manipulate information as quantum bits or qubits offering large potential speedups with processing.
The capabilities and possibilities that quantum computing offers has garnered interest across many disciplines leading to a shortage in the quantum workforce. The University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering and the Chicago Quantum Exchange is working to close this gap with a new Certificate in Quantum Science, Networking, and Communications.
Catering to a broad rage of backgrounds, the seven-week course focuses on current industry need and developing skills through technical hands-on experience, theory and experiments in quantum computing ad communications.
“The key feature of our certificate course is that it is geared toward quantum communication in quantum networks,” Chitambar says. “Other courses give a general introduction to quantum computing for anyone, but ours asks what type of challenges are unique to communicating quantum systems and how you get different types of different qubits to talk to one another.” – Eric Chitambar, Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois’ Grainger College of Engineering and Thrust Lead at Q-NEXT, a Department of Energy National Quantum Information Science Research Center led by Argonne National Laboratory.
The course will take place from October 4 through November 20 on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7:00 p.m. To be eligible you will require only a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field like physics, computer science, or electrical engineering to understand. No quantum background is necessary. You can register for the course here.
The Computing Community Consortium has done a number of visioning activities within the community on Quantum Computing including a white paper calling for national investment 2008, a workshop on Next Steps in Quantum Computing: Computer Science’s Role and a Quadrennial paper to inform the new administration in 2020 on Post Quantum Cryptography: Readiness Challenges and the Approaching Storm.
