(UCLA.edu) UCLA has received a $5 million pledge from Boeing Co. to support faculty at the Center for Quantum Science and Engineering. IQT-News shares the announcement.
The center, which is jointly operated by the UCLA College Division of Physical Sciences and the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, brings together scientists and engineers at the leading edge of quantum information science and technology. Its members have expertise in disciplines spanning physics, materials science, electrical engineering, computer science, chemistry and mathematics.
UCLA faculty and researchers are already working on exciting advances in quantum science and engineering, García-Garibay said. And the division’s new one-year master’s program, which begins this fall, will help meet the huge demand for trained professionals in quantum technologies.
“Harnessing quantum technologies for the aerospace industry is one of the great challenges we face in the coming years,” said Greg Hyslop, Boeing’s chief engineer and executive vice president of engineering, test and technology. “We are committed to growing this field of study and our relationship with UCLA moves us in that direction.”
In addition to its uses in aerospace, examples of quantum theory already in action include superconducting magnets, lasers and MRI scans. The next generation of quantum technology will enable powerful quantum computers, sensors and communication systems and transform clinical trials, defense systems, clean water systems and a wide range of other technologies.
The Boeing gift complements recent support from the National Science Foundation, including a $25 million award in 2020 to the multi-university NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institute for Present and Future Quantum Computation, which Hudson co-directs. And in 2021, the UCLA center received a five-year, $3 million traineeship grant for doctoral students from the NSF.
Founded in 2018, the Center for Quantum Science and Engineering draws from the talents and creativity of dozens of faculty members and students.
Sandra K. Helsel, Ph.D. has been researching and reporting on frontier technologies since 1990. She has her Ph.D. from the University of Arizona.