Chicago wants to lead the quantum race.
Now home to a quantum biology institute, new quantum research centers and the first startup accelerator program in the country that’s dedicated solely to quantum computing, Chicago's growth as a quantum tech hub has been a process more than 10 years in the making.
To celebrate its growth, the fifth annual Chicago Quantum Summit kicked off this week, bringing experts in quantum science and technology from around the world to a city that Chicago Quantum Exchange Director David Awschalom thinks — with recent infrastructure investments and a growing workforce and talent pool — is uniquely positioned to support the next breakthrough in quantum technology.
He said the summit is an opportunity to bring the community together to define the field as it expands, and credited the University of Chicago and other industry partners as being “early adopters” of the sector that have invested considerable resources in both education and business development for quantum science and technology.
Now with a quantum-ready workforce along with the infrastructure to support practical pathways to commercializing technologies, Awschalom said Chicago is poised to build a vibrant quantum ecosystem.
"We have leading universities in the country that made a decision early on [to invest in quantum], when I would argue it was a bit of a gamble to invest resources in that area," Awschalom told Chicago Inno. "Now, it's hard to think of a major university in the United States that isn't launching a quantum science and engineering program."
The University of Chicago helped launch Duality, an accelerator program dedicated to startup companies focused on quantum science and tech, that had six companies in its first cohort and five companies in its second cohort announced over the summer.
"We’re at the birth of a completely new field, a paradigm shift for information technology," Awschalom said. "And we believe you need all of these different types of engines, startup companies, larger companies, business programs and fundamental research."
Other quantum companies are finding Chicago to be a good place to grow as well. Quantum computing startup EeroQ moved its headquarters from Michigan to Chicago this year. Nick Farina, CEO of EeroQ, credited the available talent as one reason he was sticking with Chicago after receiving a $7.25 million seed round earlier this year.
Chicago is also home to Super.tech, a startup that's developing software that makes quantum computing faster and more efficient.
