A recent report by a quantum industry trade publication named Albuquerque among seven emerging quantum "hotbeds" in the U.S. as millions in federal dollars could flow to New Mexico as part of a three-state coalition's efforts.
The Quantum Insider, a quantum computing news publication, put out a report in early March identifying a group of U.S. emerging quantum markets. Albuquerque is one of seven markets the publication identified, alongside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Madison, Wisconsin; Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina; Austin, Texas; Minneapolis-St. Paul; and Rochester, New York.
In naming Albuquerque among those future quantum hotbeds, the report pointed out a large number of research institutions around the Duke City metro area — like the University of New Mexico (UNM), Sandia National Laboratories and Los Alamos National Laboratory a bit farther away — and a "pro-innovation" government that offers tax credits for research and development and angel investment to spur startups.
Future market opportunities for quantum technology, too, could boost the industry's development in the area.
"Albuquerque, with its proximity to national labs and a focus on renewable energy, aerospace, and advanced manufacturing sectors, could see benefits from quantum technologies in materials science, energy storage solutions, and optimization of manufacturing processes and aerospace design," the report reads.
Two of the research institutions named in the report — UNM and Sandia National Labs — partnered in January to launch the Quantum New Mexico Institute, or QNM-I, a collaborative research and development initiative for quantum technology.
QNM-I is supposed to "build on this foundation" of quantum research and development spurred by the university and national laboratories in the state, Ivan Deutsch, Ph.D., QNM-I's founding director and professor of physics at UNM, said in a statement.
Quantum information technology, or QIT, Deutsch explained, provides the foundation for other quantum technologies like quantum computing or quantum engineering, for instance. That's where New Mexico has an potential advantage, he said, because of the state's experience in leading QIT research and development.
"New Mexico has a huge concentration of research and infrastructure in this area," Deutsch said. "The foundational basic research was critical. It was people wanting to understand the nature of the universe that helped us to unlock these secretes, to realize that if we can manipulate the microscopic world in this way, we can have a new paradigm for how we do computing and do communications and do cyber security."
The New Mexico Technology Council, too, plans to host an event focused on New Mexico's quantum ecosystem in late June.
Three-state coalition nears decision on millions of dollars in federal funding
Albuquerque's spot on the future quantum hotbeds list comes as an interstate coalition that includes New Mexico nears a federal funding decision that could bring millions of dollars to the state's quantum industry.
That coalition, called Elevate Quantum, includes over 75 organizations across New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming. The Biden administration tapped the three-state consortium as one of 31 regional tech hubs, which qualifies the coalition for a chance at tens of millions in government funding support.
Zachary Yerushalmi, Elevate Quantum's CEO and regional innovation officer, said the consortium finalized its bid for up to $70 million in federal funding in late February. The U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) plans to award funding to five to 10 of the original 31 tech hub designees via the competitive application process.
New Mexico could receive up to $10 million of that potential $70 million, Yerushalmi said. Some of that money — $8 million — would go toward the development of an industrial "maker space" in the state, which could include laboratory equipment for prototyping quantum technologies, with the remaining $2 million for quantum workforce development.
Elevate Quantum has estimated about half of all quantum jobs don't require an advanced degree and the number of quantum technician jobs could double over the next half decade.
Alex Greenberg, economic development advisor for the Office of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and consortium board member, said the state could also commit $10 million in matching funds to the maker space and workforce development if Elevate Quantum's funding bid is awarded.
The majority of the up to $70 million in total Elevate Quantum funding would flow to Colorado, Yerushalmi said. Colorado Gov. Jard Polis signed a bill in May committing $74 million in Colorado state dollars to its quantum industry if the consortium is awarded the federal funds, sister publication Denver Business Journal reported.
Eric Smith, director of the EDA's Tech Hubs Program, said in an update video last week funding decisions are expected "this summer."
The Tech Hubs Program was established under the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 and is funded through a fiscal year 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act appropriation to the EDA.
