18 Teams Qualified for Research Funding at Virtual “Million Dollar International Quantum U Tech Accelerator”

(RomeSentinel) Eighteen teams from around the world qualified for research funding awards for their potentially game-changing quantum research and innovations, as part of a virtual “Million Dollar International Quantum U Tech Accelerator” that concluded last week.
They were among 36 teams who pitched their concepts to a panel of judges, including ideas ranging from quantum sensors for GPS-denied navigation and a chip-scale integrated quantum platform, to ion traps and innovative lasers.
Among those qualifying for awards involving a portion of the more than $1 million in basic research funding from the AFRL, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) and the Office of Naval Research (ONR):
• Topic: Quantum Timing — Nicolas Grandjean, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology; R. Jason Jones, University of Arizona; Shimon Kolkowitz, University of Wisconsin-Madison;
• Topic: Quantum Sensing — Philippe Bouyer, Institute d’Optique Graduate School, French National Centre for Scientific Research; John Close, The Australian National University; Gurudev Dutt, University of Pittsburgh; Paul G. Kwiat, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; David Simpson, University of Melbourne;
• Topic: Quantum Computing — Fred Chong, University of Chicago, and Pranav Gokhale, Super.tech; Kavan Modi, Monash University; Paolo Pintus, University of California Santa Barbara; Shyam Shankar, University of Texas at Austin and New York University; Andrew G. White; University of Queensland;
• Topic: Quantum Communications — John Bartholomew, University of Sydney; Tobias J. Kippenberg, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology; Marco Loncar, Harvard University; Britton Plourde, Syracuse University; Alp Sipahigil, UC Berkeley.
Results were announced by Innovare Advancement Center, a new open innovation campus at Griffiss park for which the Quantum U Tech Accelerator program was its kickoff event. Innovare involves a partnership between the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Information Directorate, also known as Rome Lab; the state; Oneida County; City of Rome; the Griffiss Institute; NYSTEC; and SUNY.