UMassAmherst Computer Scientist Don Towsley Named to Team Developing the Quantum Internet

(UMass.edu) Computer Scientist Don Towsley Named to Team Developing the Quantum Internet. The National Science Foundation this week announced a five-year, $26 million initial grant to a consortium led by the University of Arizona to form a new Engineering Research Center, the Center for Quantum Networks (CQN), with partners at Harvard, Yale and MIT, among others, and including Distinguished Professor Don Towsley of the College of Information and Computer Sciences.
One of the center’s goals is to develop quantum communications and the “quantum internet,” where bits of information are encoded in photons of infrared light, for example, instead of radio waves when beaming from a satellite. Once developed fully, quantum communication is expected to be more secure than existing systems.
Towsley says his role in the multi-institution team will be to co-lead one of three research thrusts focused on quantum network architecture. In addition to leadership responsibilities, Towsley will perform research on fundamental performance limits of quantum networks and on the right protocols to achieve these limits.
The CQN also is charged with investigating the effects of a future quantum internet on education, workforce development, innovation and society. Organizers also say CQN has a mandate to develop not only the technology, but to address concurrent topics science, law, policy and society as they emerge, within a strong culture of inclusion. It will also emphasize engineering workforce development and include raising student awareness with curriculum and projects involving policy, law and society.