‘Inquire’ Project at UofA to Help Diverse Fields Share & Benefit from Quantum Resources

(EurekaAlert) Professor Zheshen Zhang at the University of Arizona is leading the construction of the Interdisciplinary Quantum Information Research and Engineering instrument, known as Inquire, at the UA. Inquire is the world’s first shared research and training instrument to help researchers in diverse fields – including those with no expertise in quantum information science – benefit from quantum resources. Inquire has approximately $1.4 million in funding – $999,999 from the National Science Foundation and about $400,000 from the UA.
The co-investigators of the Inquire project include Ivan Djordjevic, professor of electrical and computer engineering and optical sciences; Jennifer Barton, director of the BIO5 Institute and professor of biomedical engineering, biosystems engineering, electrical and computer engineering, and optical sciences; Nasser Peyghambarian, professor of optical sciences; and Marek Romanowski, associate professor of biomedical engineering, and materials science and engineering.
“This is a key area that the National Science Foundation identifies as one of its 10 Big Ideas and really wants to push forward because it is so interdisciplinary,” Zhang said. “It involves researchers across the boundaries of science, engineering, computer science, physics, chemistry, math, optics – everywhere. The key question is ‘How can everybody speak the same language, and how can they benefit from the progress made in other areas?'”