Northeastern University’s Innovation Campus in Burlington, Massachusetts, is set to become the epicenter of cutting-edge quantum technology, thanks in part to a new grant.
Massachusetts Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Mike Kennealy on Wednesday announced a $3.5 million grant to establish the Experimental Quantum Advancement Laboratory (EQUAL) on the Innovation Campus.
Part of the Collaborative Research & Development Matching Grant Program and administered by the Innovation Institute of Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MassTech), the grant supports approximately $10 million in projects.
The award will help strengthen the EQUAL project’s partnerships with states, nine academic institutions, and 23 industry partners. Together, they will advance research into quantum technologies that have wide-ranging applications, while training students and workers to help boost Massachusetts’ economy.
“This is how we work together to get things done,” Kennealy said in a statement. “In so many ways, this is the best of who we are, how we work and how we work together.”
EQUAL’s focus on industry partnerships means that new technologies will be immediately ready for commercial application once the lab in Building V is complete. The 1,600-square-foot lab is currently empty, but his Swastik Kar, associate professor at Northeast and co-director of his EQUAL, is optimistic about what will become an “assembly line” from concept to commercialization. did.
There, students have the opportunity to enter the ground floor of the Great Discovery. This includes students in the Biotech Associates to Masters (A2M) Pathway program affiliated with Middlesex Community College and students in the Northeast participating in experiential learning programs. Northeastern also plans to expand its degree offerings to include doctoral degrees. Master’s Degree Program in Quantum Information Science and Engineering.
Importantly, Kar’s lab, which is set to open in spring 2023, will almost eliminate the middleman between research and application.
“There are many researchers doing hardcore research that is siled, and there is no clear path for moving quantum technology out of the lab and into the marketplace,” he said.
Instead, at EQUAL, “there’s a build-up from the foundational level to the final application. That requires not only expertise, but facilities that can go from concept to technical maturity all at once,” he says. Told.
At the end of the assembly line are the industries that use this technology. Examples include Park Systems, which manufactures atomic microscopes and has an on-campus campus, and Qnami, a Swiss-based company that develops technologies using quantum mechanics. Small and medium-sized enterprises.
“[Northeastern] Qnami co-founder and CEO Mathieu Munsch said: “Best place to start in America”
EQUAL’s efforts will also impact Massachusetts. In addition to building relationships between Northeastern and state government, EQUAL will create new jobs, bring income to the state and help Massachusetts compete in the growing field of quantum technology.
“Our goal is to invest in emerging technologies that have the potential to have a foreseeable impact on the economy,” said Pat Larkin, deputy director of MassTech.
But EQUAL’s reach can extend beyond that. Kar explained that he is not the only application of quantum technology. Can be applied almost anywhere.
“what [the work is] It allows us to develop new technologies that impact our daily lives in the areas of health, safety, sustainability and more,” said Carr.
And according to Arun Bansil, a prominent university professor and co-director of EQUAL, the sky is the limit of what it can achieve. “Everything in Star Trek isn’t that far away,” he said.
Kar and Bansil can’t wait to get started and are excited to have federal support. “We are very grateful to the Baker-Polito Administration and he MassTech for helping establish the EQUAL lab with this generous grant,” said Kar.
media contactPlease contact us media@northeastern.edu.
Comments
Post a Comment