The Northwest Quantum Nexus (NQN), a coalition of research and industrial quantum groups with connections to the Pacific Northwest region, announced Amazon Web Services and Boeing as its two newest members at the group’s NQN Summit event this week.
“The future of quantum computing will require cooperation across industry, academia and government,” said Sebastian Hassinger, Principal Specialist, Amazon Braket at AWS. “AWS’s long-standing presence in Seattle, coupled with our alignment to NQN’s values to grow a quantum computing workforce of the future is the foundation for a great relationship.”
NQN coalition members recognize that while QIS [Quantum Information Sciences] will provide a strategic advantage to those who successfully develop its capabilities, the challenge is beyond the ability of one university, company or any single organization to accomplish alone.
Marna Kagele, Boeing Technical Fellow, added, “At Boeing, we are committed to understanding how quantum computation can enhance our complex design and manufacturing systems. Results so far show us there is potential in areas from quantum chemistry to optimization and more. We are excited about the future of quantum computing and the opportunities in front of us.”
The NQN group was started in 2019 by AWS cloud rival Microsoft Azure in partnership with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the University of Washington (UW). Those parties were later joined by IonQ and the University of Oregon’s Center for Optical Molecular & Quantum Science.
“The promise of quantum will only be realized by unlocking our collective genius,” said Krysta Svore, Distinguished Engineer and VP of Advanced Quantum Development at Microsoft, a founding NQN keystone partner. “The Pacific Northwest is a hub of quantum innovation because of our tight academic, government and business partnerships and our national and global impact will continue to grow with the expanded Northwest Quantum Nexus.”
This week’s event is being held on the UW-Seattle campus, and among other event highlights, IonQ hosted a hackathon to explore the limits of running programs on IonQ quantum hardware. The company, which last week announced it is opening a massive new manufacturing plant in the Seattle area, also brought several speakers to the event, including IonQ CEO Peter Chapman, a Seattle-based former Amazon executive.
Dan O’Shea has covered telecommunications and related topics including semiconductors, sensors, retail systems, digital payments and quantum computing/technology for over 25 years.