Air Force Hosting ‘Quantum Collider’ Virtual Pitch Day to Facilitate Advances in Quantum Technologies for Future Air & Space Force

(NationalDefenseMagazine) The Air Force is bringing together industry, academia and startups to facilitate advances in quantum technologies, said the service’s acquisition chief.
As it seeks to harness the technology for military use, the service is hosting a “Quantum Collider” virtual pitch day on June 15. Topics to be explored will include quantum timing, sensing, information processing/computing and communication/networking.
Roper noted that the Air Force has a pool of money — more than $100 million per year — under its Small Business Technology Transfer Research program that is meant to provide cutting edge technology developed by academia to companies that want to harness it, whether for commercial or military purposes.
“I see huge potential to create a wonderful ecosystem between university researchers, tech startups and venture capitalists to try to get university research of so many fields that could affect the future Air and Space Force and create a faster path to spin it out,” says Will Roper, the Air Force’s assistant secretary for acquisition, technology and logistics.