Penn Hosts NSF Event to Discuss Collaborative, High-Risk, High-Reward Quantum Tech Research

Penn hosted the National Science Foundation (NSF) ‘Enabling Quantum Leap’ workshop. The goal of the workshop was to bring together experts across campus to discuss the latest results of NSF-funded high-risk, high-reward research projects while also providing a platform to share new ideas and to discuss strategies for the future.
With quantum materials and quantum information technology one of NSF’s 10 big ideas, the experts focused on room-temperature quantum logic using low-dimensional materials, ones that are only a few atoms thick. Students, researchers, and faculty gathered at the Singh Center to consider the challenges faced by the field and how they might be solved through collaboration.
The gathering also provided a place to discuss other applications for quantum materials, such as medical sensors and communication platforms, many of which could be developed and used in the near term.
Another talking point was the importance of getting researchers from different fields to speak the same language. In an interdisciplinary field that involves physics, math, materials science, and computer science, future advances will rely heavily on ongoing collaborations to ensure that fundamental findings can be translated into useful materials and devices.