Quantum Open Source with Will Zeng and Ziyaad Bhorat

In this special live-streamed discussion, Will Zeng, co-founder of the Unitary Foundation, and Ziyaad Bhorat, VP at the Mozilla Foundation, join host Sebastian Hassinger to unpack their co-authored white paper, The Open Foundation Quantum Technology Needs. The paper argues that open source quantum software is structurally underfunded — too applied for academic grants, too public-good for venture capital — and that philanthropic organizations need to step in before the window closes.

This conversation arrives at a pivotal moment. Google recently published a paper showing Shor's algorithm could break ECDLP-256 with roughly 500,000 physical qubits — a 20x improvement over prior estimates — while Oratomic launched claiming 10,000 reconfigurable atomic qubits may be sufficient for cryptographically relevant computation. The timelines are compressing. The question is whether the software ecosystem can keep pace with the hardware.
The video of our conversation can be viewed on YouTube.

What you'll learn

• Why open source quantum software falls into a structural funding gap between academic grants and venture capital — and what that means for the field's trajectory
• How Mozilla Foundation evaluates emerging technology fields for philanthropic intervention, and what specifically convinced them quantum was ripe for engagement
• What Google's 20x efficiency gain for Shor's algorithm and the Oratomic launch mean for Q-Day timelines and post-quantum migration urgency
• Why the "quantum Linux" analogy is useful but incomplete — and what the real risk is (fragmentation, not monopoly)
• How Unitary Foundation's microgrant program ($4,000, six months) has become a faster on-ramp to quantum careers than traditional academic pathways
• What PyMatching, PyZX, and other microgrant-funded projects reveal about the scalability of small open source investments
• Why open source benchmarking through Metriq Gym matters — and why vendor-driven benchmarks can't fill this role
• How the Qiskit team reductions at IBM illustrate the fragility of corporate-backed open source in quantum
• What specific policy asks the quantum open source community has for the NQI reauthorization
• The von Neumann vs. ENIAC lesson: why openness wins over secrecy in building transformative computing platforms

Resources & links

• The Open Foundation Quantum Technology Needs — The white paper by Zeng, Castanon, and Bhorat (March 2026) that anchors this conversation
• Unitary Foundation — 501(c)(3) non-profit building, governing, and sustaining open source quantum software since 2018 
• Mozilla Foundation — Non-profit championing open source and internet health, supporting Unitary Foundation's quantum work
• Mitiq — Open source toolkit for quantum error mitigation
• Metriq — Community-driven quantum benchmarking platform 
• Metriq Gym — Open source benchmarking suite for quantum computers 
• Unitary Compiler Collection (UCC) — Quantum circuit compilation tools
• QuTiP — Quantum Toolbox in Python, stewarded by Unitary Foundation
• PyMatching — Open source decoder for quantum error correction, originally funded by a UF microgrant 
• PyZX — ZX-calculus library for quantum circuit optimization, also originating from UF support 
• Unitary Hack — Annual bug bounty hackathon connecting open source quantum projects with global contributors 
• CSIS Commission on U.S. Quantum Leadership — Warning on quantum decryption surprise referenced in the white paper
• Will Zeng — President and co-founder of Unitary Foundation; Partner at Quantonation; DPhil in Quantum Information, University of Oxford
• Ziyaad Bhorat — VP of Imagination and Strategic Growth, Mozilla Foundation; PhD in Political Science, UCLA

Key quotes

Related episodes

• Ep 19: Quantum Error Mitigation using Mitiq with Misty Wahl — Deep dive into Mitiq, one of Unitary Foundation's flagship open source projects discussed in this episode.
• Ep 35: Quantum Benchmarking with Jens Eisert — Explores the challenges of quantum benchmarking that Will Zeng addresses with the Metriq platform.
• Ep 29: Quantum Education and Community Building with Olivia Lanes — Parallels to the community-first approach to workforce development that both guests advocate.
• Ep 53: Fostering Quantum Education with Emily Edwards — The Q12 initiative's approach to quantum education, complementing UF's open source on-ramps.
• Ep 79: Building a Quantum Ecosystem from Scratch with Martin Laforest — How Quebec built a quantum ecosystem — relevant context for the white paper's argument about building open infrastructure early.

Subscribe & connect

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Summary

This episode is for anyone following the quantum utility debate or curious about how quantum computers will actually contribute to scientific discovery. Arnab Banerjee — assistant professor at Purdue, guest scientist at Oak Ridge's Quantum Science Center, and one of the most-cited experimentalists working at the intersection of quantum materials and quantum computing — walks us through his career-spanning journey from growing magnetic crystals to programming qubits.

You'll hear how Banerjee's frustration with classical tools that couldn't explain his own experimental data drove him to quantum computing, why a quantum spin liquid is like the vortex that forms when you throw a stone into water, and how his team used 50 qubits on IBM's Heron chip to reproduce the spectroscopic fingerprint of a real material — KCuF3 — matching data collected at Oak Ridge and the UK's ISIS neutron source. He also offers a nuanced assessment of where different quantum computing platforms excel, drawing on hands-on experience with IBM, QuEra, and D-Wave.

What you'll learn

• What a quantum spin liquid actually is and why its collective behavior — like vortices on water — could enable naturally error-protected qubits
• How neutron scattering works as a quantum probe — using the neutron's own spin and de Broglie wavelength to reveal both atomic positions and energy levels simultaneously
• Why Banerjee's team chose to benchmark quantum simulation against known experimental data first before tackling classically intractable problems
• What the IBM Heron benchmarking paper actually showed — reproducing spinon excitations in KCuF3, a one-dimensional Heisenberg chain, with quantitative agreement to neutron data
• How different quantum computing modalities serve different materials science problems — IBM for fast, cheap operations on 2D lattices; trapped ions for all-to-all connectivity; D-Wave and QuEra for Ising-like Hamiltonians
• How close we are to quantum advantage in materials simulation — Banerjee estimates 70-90 "good enough" qubits in 2D geometry could reach classically inaccessible regimes
• Why Kitaev quantum spin liquids could provide a fundamentally different path to fault tolerance — topological protection from decoherence built into the material itself, not imposed through software

Resources & links

Papers & research

• Benchmarking quantum simulation with neutron-scattering experiments (March 2026) — The news hook: IBM Heron processor reproduces real neutron scattering data from KCuF3. First direct validation of quantum simulation against experimental measurements of a real material.
•  Proximate Kitaev quantum spin liquid behaviour in a honeycomb magnet (2016) — Banerjee et al., Nature Materials. The career-defining paper providing first experimental evidence for Kitaev spin liquid behavior in alpha-RuCl3. Discover Magazine Top 100 Stories (#18). 
• Neutron scattering in the proximate quantum spin liquid alpha-RuCl3 (2017) — Banerjee et al., Science. Comprehensive neutron scattering study revealing fractional spinon excitations. 
• Materials for quantum technologies roadmap (2025) — Applied Physics Reviews. Banerjee's roadmap paper on the pipeline from material discovery to quantum devices.
• Lessons from alpha-RuCl3 for atomically thin materials (Nov 2025) — What the decade-long study of alpha-RuCl3 teaches about 2D quantum materials.

Guest & lab links 

• Quantum Spins Laboratory, Purdue University — Banerjee's research group
• ORNL Profile: Traversing the Unknown, Befriending Uncertainty — Oak Ridge profile on Banerjee's research philosophy 
• Purdue News: Keck Foundation Grant for Quantum Spin Liquids — $1.2M grant to probe Majorana bound states with optical techniques
• Coverage of the IBM benchmarking work - IBM Newsroom: Quantum Computer Simulates Real Magnetic Materials — IBM's announcement of the benchmarking result
• Nature News: Quantum simulations verified by experiments for the first time — Nature's coverage of the milestone
• Organizations & facilities - DOE Quantum Science Center at Oak Ridge — $115M National Quantum Initiative center where Banerjee is a guest scientist
• Spallation Neutron Source, Oak Ridge — The neutron scattering facility central to Banerjee's experimental work
• ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, Rutherford Appleton Lab — UK facility where part of the KCuF3 data was collected

Key quotes & insights

"The entire electronic industry is built around trying to avoid quantum effects as much as possible. This is the time when we need to make quantum our friend instead of our enemy."

"In a quantum spin liquid, the spin directions move collectively in dancing patterns that look extremely ordered — but if you take a snapshot, the individual spins feel completely random." — On why spin liquids are like vortices in water

"A spin is a qubit is a spin." — On why quantum magnets and quantum processors are fundamentally the same physics

"We need to know whether what we are doing really makes sense. That's what this experiment is about." — On why benchmarking against known results must come before tackling unsolved problems

"I would like to simulate the entire standard model using a quantum computer." — When asked what problem he'd throw at an unlimited quantum computer

Related episodes

• Ep 6: Better Qubits Through Material Science with Nathalie DeLeon — The materials science perspective on improving qubit quality, from diamond color centers to surface physics
• Ep 13: The Mysterious Majorana with Leo Kouwenhoven — The topological quantum computing vision that Kitaev materials could enable through a different route
• Ep 74: Majorana Qubits with Chetan Nayak — Microsoft's engineered approach to topological protection — contrast with Banerjee's materials-first path
• Ep 25: Material Science with Houlong Zhuang at Q2B Paris — Using quan...

Has quantum advantage actually been achieved — or is the field still arguing over its own milestones? Dominik Hangleiter, one of the leading theorists working on quantum computational advantage, joins the podcast to make the case that it has, explain why so many physicists remain unconvinced, and map the path toward fault-tolerant, verifiable quantum advantage.

Why This Episode Matters

If you follow quantum computing and want to cut through the noise around quantum advantage claims, this episode is for you. Dominik Hangleiter — an Ambizione Fellow at ETH Zürich and postdoctoral fellow at UC Berkeley's Simons Institute — has spent over a decade studying the boundary between what quantum and classical computers can do. His March 2026 paper "Has quantum advantage been achieved?" synthesizes years of experiments, classical simulation attacks, and complexity theory into a clear-eyed assessment. Whether you're an experimentalist, a theorist, or simply quantum-curious, you'll come away with a sharper understanding of what's been demonstrated, what hasn't, and what comes next.

What You'll Learn

• Why random circuit sampling became the primary arena for proving quantum advantage — and why the task's "uselessness" is a feature, not a bug
• How the linear cross-entropy benchmark (XEB) works as a statistical proxy for verifying classically intractable quantum computation
• Why audiences of physicists are still split on whether quantum advantage has been demonstrated, despite multiple experiments since 2019
• What "peaked circuits" are and how they interpolate between random sampling and structured computation
• How post-quantum cryptography (learning with errors) exploits problems that quantum computers can't solve — and what that reveals about quantum computation's limits
• Why basic arithmetic is surprisingly hard for fault-tolerant quantum computers, and how that bottlenecks algorithms like Shor's
• How fault-tolerant compilation co-designs quantum circuits with error-correcting codes to make advantage experiments scalable
• The difference between "native" quantum operations and the overhead required for universal fault-tolerant computation
• Why the interplay between quantum and classical computing strengths — not quantum dominance — may define the field's future

Resources & Links

Papers & Articles

• Has quantum advantage been achieved? — Hangleiter's March 2026 paper synthesizing the quantum advantage debate
• Computational Advantage of Quantum Random Sampling — Hangleiter & Eisert's comprehensive review in Reviews of Modern Physics (2023)
• Fault-Tolerant Compiling of Classically Hard IQP Circuits on Hypercubes — The Harvard/ETH collaboration on fault-tolerant IQP circuits (PRX Quantum 2025)
• Secret-Extraction Attacks against Obfuscated IQP Circuits — Hangleiter & Gross's attack paper breaking proposed verification protocols (PRX Quantum 2025)
• Verifiable Measurement-Based Quantum Random Sampling with Trapped Ions — Experimental realization with the Innsbruck trapped-ion group (Nature Communications 2025)

Blog Series & Commentary

• Has quantum advantage been achieved? (Quantum Frontiers blog series) — The three-part mini-series on the Caltech IQIM blog that grew into the paper
• Scott Aaronson's reaction — Endorsement on Shtetl-Optimized: "quantum supremacy on contrived benchmark problems has almost certainly been achieved by now"

Guest Links

• Dominik Hangleiter — personal website & publications
• Google Scholar profile (4,372 citations)
• QuICS profile (University of Maryland)

Key Quotes & Insights

• "Really what sets random circuit sampling apart is that it's really programmable. I give an input to the device, I design a circuit — I draw it randomly, yes — but then I give the circuit to the device, and whoever controls the device runs the circuit and gives me back the samples." — On why RCS qualifies as genuine computation
• "We typically do in physics experiments a lot of extrapolation, a lot of circumstantial experiments that validate that the experiment you really care about is actually what you want to probe. And that's the sense in which I think these random circuit sampling experiments have been verified." — On the physics-style epistemology of quantum advantage
• "Classical computers are really good at doing basic arithmetic, but quantum computers — it's really hard to do basic arithmetic. And that's for the reason that fault tolerance is very restrictive in terms of the operations that you can do on encoded information." — On the surprising asymmetry between quantum and classical capabilities
• "I can't just tell the quantum computer to give me the outcome I want. There's rules to it. And how those rules apply to computational problems that we face in the real world beyond quantum simulation is, I think, a really intriguing challenge." — On the structured nature of quantum interference
• "Maybe there's a world where we can stitch together different hardware systems and won't have a single platform that wins the race." — On heterogeneous quantum architectures

Related Episodes

• Ep 35: Quantum Benchmarking with Jens Eisert — Hangleiter's PhD advisor discusses benchmarking quantum devices — essential context for understanding how we measure quantum performance.
• Ep 12: Quantum Supremacy to Generative AI and Back with Scott Aaronson — Aaronson's perspective on quantum supremacy and computational complexity — directly relevant to the advantage debate.
• Ep 73: Peaked quantum circuits with Hrant Gharibyan — The peaked circuits approach discussed in this episode, explained in depth.
• Ep 47: Megaquop with John Preskill and Rob Schoelkopf — The road to a million quantum operations — the scale needed for the fault-tolerant advantage Hangleiter envisions.
• Ep 74: Majorana qubits with Chetan Nayak — Another approach to fault tolerance with different native capabilities — relevant to Hangleiter's point about modality-specific strengths.

Calls to Action

Dominik's Quantum Frontiers blog series is one of the most accessible deep dives on quantum advantage available anywhere — start there if you want to explore beyond this conversation. Links in the show notes.

Subscribe: ...

Scaling Quantum Hardware Like Semiconductors with Matthijs Rijlaarsdam

The quantum computing industry has been stuck at roughly 100 qubits for years — not because of physics, but because of wiring. Matthijs Rijlaarsdam, co-founder and CEO of QuantWare, explains how his company's 3D vertical chip architecture (VIO) could break through that ceiling to 10,000 qubits by 2028, and why the quantum industry needs to start thinking like the semiconductor industry if it wants to actually deliver on its promises.

Episode Summary

This conversation is for anyone trying to understand why quantum computers haven't scaled as fast as promised — and what it would take to change that. Matthijs brings an unusual perspective as a computer scientist (not a physicist) who co-founded QuantWare out of TU Delft's QuTech to become the world's first commercial supplier of superconducting quantum processors.

Rather than building a full quantum computer, QuantWare sells QPUs as components — the "TSMC of quantum." In this episode, Matthijs walks through the VIO architecture that routes signals vertically through stacked chiplets instead of along chip edges, why specialization and volume economics are the only realistic path to useful quantum computing, and how the Dutch quantum ecosystem punches far above its weight thanks to consistent long-term investment.

What You'll Learn

• Why the quantum industry is stuck at ~100 qubits — and how 90% of current chip area is consumed by signal routing, not qubits, creating a fundamental scaling wall
• How VIO's 3D chiplet architecture breaks the wiring bottleneck by routing signals vertically through stacked silicon modules, enabling 10,000-qubit processors that are physically smaller than today's 100-qubit chips
• Why quantum computing will be heterogeneous — different platforms (superconducting, trapped ions, neutral atoms) have different trade-offs analogous to CPUs vs. memory vs. storage in classical computing
• The economics that make specialization inevitable — why cable costs need to drop from EUR 1,500 per line to cents, and why volume manufacturing is the only way to get there
• How QuantWare's three business models mirror the semiconductor industry — selling packaged QPUs (Intel model), foundry services (TSMC model), and packaging services for third-party chips
• Why the Dutch quantum ecosystem succeeds — consistent decade-plus government investment in QuTech, EUR 600M+ to Quantum Delta NL, and the WENEC report recommending EUR 9.4 billion for quantum infrastructure
• What "Quantum Open Architecture" means in practice — how making QPUs commercially available lowers barriers for the entire industry, similar to how standardized PC components enabled the computing revolution
• QuantWare's roadmap: VIO-40K shipping in 2028 with up to 10,000 qubits, and a path to 1 million qubits using arrays of chiplet modules

Resources & Links

Company

• QuantWare — world's first and largest commercial supplier of superconducting quantum processors
• VIO Technology — QuantWare's 3D vertical integration and optimization architecture
• VIO-40K announcement — press release on the 10,000-qubit scaling breakthrough

Coverage & Analysis

• PostQuantum: QuantWare's 10,000-qubit chip — a real scaling bet — the most balanced independent analysis of VIO-40K's claims and limitations
• TechCrunch: Dutch startup QuantWare seeks to fast-track quantum computing — Series A coverage
• NextBigFuture: QuantWare 10K qubits in 2028 and 1 million in 2029 — Q2B keynote reporting

Partnerships Mentioned

• Quantum Utility Block (QUB) with Q-CTRL and Qblox — turnkey quantum computer kit
• Elevate Quantum Q-PAC in Colorado — first US Quantum Open Architecture system

Ecosystem & Policy

• QuantWare 2026 industry predictions — QuantWare's view on entering the kiloqubit era
• QuTech — TU Delft quantum research institute where both QuantWare co-founders did their graduate work
• Quantum Delta NL — Dutch national quantum technology program (EUR 600M+)
• DARPA HARK program — Heterogeneous Accelerated Roadmap using Quantum Solutions; referenced by Matthijs as validation of the heterogeneous quantum computing thesis

Key Insights

"There is no path towards useful quantum computing without specialization. That is a total fantasy." — Matthijs Rijlaarsdam on why volume economics and the semiconductor model are inevitable for quantum

"The difference between EUR 1,500 and 10 cents per cable line — that's all volumes and yields." — on how manufacturing scale, not physics breakthroughs, will drive the next phase of quantum cost reduction

"If you look at it on a cost-per-qubit basis, VIO-40K at EUR 50 million is actually a 10x reduction from where we are today. Anyone claiming they'll do it for less is just not telling something realistic." — on the real economics of scaling quantum hardware

"Imagine if you were a company today and you wanted to do interesting stuff in AI, but you first had to develop a three nanometer process to make the chips. It would be completely ridiculous. And in quantum, that's what everyone is doing." — on why vertical integration won't survive at scale

"Good companies will get funded. We have in general not been restricted by access to capital ourselves." — on navigating European deep-tech venture capital

Related Episodes

• Ep 41: Dual-rail superconducting qubits with Rob Schoelkopf — deep dive into superconducting qubit architectures and scaling approaches
• Ep 48: Qolab Emerges from Stealth Mode with John Martinis — another vision for scaling superconducting qubits to millions, from a different architectural angle
• Ep 59: Silicon Spin Qubits with Andrew Dzurak from D...

Ever wonder why quantum computing still feels like a "cool science experiment" instead of a deployable technology? After two decades building wireless standards and quantum systems at IBM, Brian Gaucher argues that engineering—not physics—has become the critical bottleneck holding back quantum technologies from real-world impact.

Why this episode matters

This conversation is essential for anyone trying to understand why quantum technologies haven't yet transitioned from laboratory demonstrations to scalable industrial applications. Brian co-authored the recent ERVA report that identifies the specific engineering challenges blocking quantum progress across computing, sensing, and biological applications. If you're a researcher, engineer, or technology leader wondering how quantum moves from promising science to transformational technology, this episode provides the roadmap.

The discussion reveals why materials engineering, not theoretical breakthroughs, will determine which nations lead the quantum economy—and why coordinated investment in nanoscale manufacturing infrastructure needs to happen now, before manufacturing ecosystems become geographically concentrated like semiconductors.

• What you'll learn
• How engineering precision has replaced theoretical understanding as the primary quantum bottleneck across computing, sensing, and biological applications
• Why superconducting qubit fabrication still resembles lab experiments despite being labeled an "engineering problem" since 2016—and what's needed to achieve semiconductor-level reproducibility
• The specific materials challenges blocking quantum scaling: surface and interface noise control, defect management, cryogenic packaging, and atomic-layer precision manufacturing
• Why quantum computing will require hundreds of interconnected dilution refrigerators rather than single large systems, and the engineering implications of distributed quantum architectures
• How AI and quantum computing create bidirectional acceleration opportunities: AI enabling quantum calibration and error mitigation, while quantum enhances optimization and molecular simulation workloads
• Why quantum standards development faces a chicken-and-egg problem that won't resolve until reproducible quantum advantage is demonstrated—but must be ready immediately afterward
• How regional quantum initiatives like Illinois Quantum Network and Elevate Quantum balance necessary specialization against harmful fragmentation in the pre-standards era
• Why the semiconductor industry's offshore manufacturing migration offers critical lessons for maintaining quantum manufacturing leadership in the United States

• Job seekers & researchers: Subscribe free at qubitsok.com — weekly job alerts + daily paper digest filtered by 400+ quantum tags. 
• Hiring managers: Post your quantum role and reach 500+ targeted subscribers. Use code NEWQUANTUMERA-50 for 50% off your first listing at qubitsok.com/post-job.

Resources & links

Papers & reports

• ERVA Report: Engineering Research to Advance Quantum Technologies - The comprehensive analysis Brian co-authored on translating quantum science into engineering frameworks
• National Quantum Initiative Act - Current federal quantum research coordination legislation awaiting reauthorization

Organizations & initiatives

• Chicago Quantum Exchange - Regional quantum research consortium Brian mentions as a model for coordinated development
• IBM Quantum Network - Brian's former organization advancing quantum computing applications
• IEEE Quantum Engineering - Standards organization Brian suggests should lead quantum standardization efforts

Standards & technology platforms

• IEEE 802.11 Standards - The Wi-Fi standardization work Brian contributed to, demonstrating how standards unlock technology ecosystems
• Qiskit - IBM's quantum software development platform
• OpenQASM - Quantum assembly language specification for quantum instruction sets

Guest links

• Brian Gaucher's Design News Interview - Recent discussion of quantum engineering workforce development

Key insights

"Quantum advantages is going to come not just from better qubits alone, but really from better engineering. The physics is truly exciting in the discovery aspects, but that in itself is not going to go anywhere without a bigger picture wrapped around it."

"We understand the fundamental physics. What we need to do is get to reproducible, scalable fabrication and interface control remains one of the limiting things."

"Scientific leadership alone doesn't guarantee you long-term manufacturing leadership. We know this from semiconductors—the US remains strong in research and design, but manufacturing ecosystems went offshore."

"Once manufacturing ecosystems become geographically concentrated, you can't rebuild this stuff. So you need to address this earlier on and not wait."

"If we break encryption, every old email and text and bank statement that you've ever had becomes open. The enormity of such a risk should be driving someone crazy."

Related episodes

• Ep 47: Megaquop with John Preskill and Rob Schoelkopf - Deep dive into superconducting quantum computing architectures and scaling challenges
• Ep 52: Quantum Error Correction Codes with Kenneth Brown - Essential background on the error mitigation Brian discusses as an AI-quantum intersection
• Ep 61: The Quantum Internet with Stephanie Wehner - Quantum communications standards and infrastructure development

Revolutionary Quantum Engineering with David Reilly and Tom Ohki

Have you ever wondered what it takes to build computing systems that work at temperatures colder than outer space? David Reilly and Tom Ohki are tackling this exact challenge, leading a "special ops" team of engineers from their unique position at Emergence Quantum—the startup born from Microsoft's Station Q program. They're not just building quantum computers; they're creating the entire infrastructure ecosystem that will make scalable quantum computing possible.

Episode Summary

This episode explores how quantum computing's most challenging engineering problems are being solved from the ground up. David Reilly (former Station Q lead) and Tom Ohki (ex-Raytheon BBN Technologies) share their journey from academic research to building Emergence Quantum—a company focused on the systems-level challenges of quantum computing and beyond.

Unlike typical quantum startups racing to build better qubits, Emergence takes a "qubit-agnostic" approach, focusing on the critical control systems, cryogenic electronics, and infrastructure needed to scale any quantum platform. Their work spans from cryo-CMOS control systems that operate at millikelvin temperatures to revolutionary applications of cryogenic cooling in classical data centers.

What You'll Learn

• How cryo-CMOS technology solves the fundamental wiring bottleneck that prevents quantum computers from scaling beyond hundreds of qubits
• Why the "special ops" team model enables breakthrough engineering when tackling unprecedented technical challenges across quantum and classical computing
• How cryogenic cooling could transform classical data centers by dramatically reducing power consumption and improving processor performance
• The systems-level thinking required to build quantum computers that actually work at scale, beyond just improving individual qubit performance
• Why Australia offers unique advantages for deep tech R&D companies focused on long-term hardware development rather than venture-driven growth
• How quantum computing infrastructure development creates spillover benefits for classical computing, sensing, and other cryogenic applications
• The historical parallels between today's quantum engineering challenges and the foundational R&D that built the internet and early computing systems
• Why "qubit-agnostic" approaches to control systems provide more flexibility as quantum hardware continues evolving

Company & Guest Links

• Emergence Quantum
• David Reilly
• Tom Ohki

Research & Papers

• Nature paper on cryo-CMOS coexistence with spin qubits 
• Historical cryo-CMOS research

Organizations Mentioned

• Microsoft Station Q (former quantum research division)
• Raytheon BBN Technologies (internet pioneer, quantum research)
• University of Sydney

• Job seekers & researchers: Subscribe free at qubitsok.com — weekly job alerts + daily paper digest filtered by 400+ quantum tags. 
• Hiring managers: Post your quantum role and reach 500+ targeted subscribers. Use code NEWQUANTUMERA-50 for 50% off your first listing at qubitsok.com/post-job.

Technologies & Concepts

• Cryo-CMOS: CMOS electronics operating at cryogenic temperatures
• Dilution refrigerators: Ultra-low temperature cooling systems
• Superconducting quantum devices and control systems

Key Insights

• "We recognize that although quantum is very much moving into more traditional engineering domains, there's still so much fundamental research—you have to walk both paths. It will be both fundamental science and applied engineering, all at the same time." — David Reilly on the dual nature of quantum development
• "Every member had this deep expertise, and we were able to progress in a flexible agile way. That was exactly the secret." — Tom Ohki on building high-performing technical teams
• "You could ask the question: what are the attributes of scalable qubits, given the constraints of what you can build at the control layer?" — David Reilly on systems-level thinking
• "If you don't believe in [scaling classical cryogenic computing], but you believe in quantum computing, there's some mismatch here—because the fundamental aspects are completely identical." — Tom Ohki on infrastructure requirements
• "We're not trying to disrupt the incumbent technology. We're trying to improve it. But along the way, we're building the foundation for a world beyond that." — David Reilly on their strategic approach

Community & Next Steps

Ready to dive deeper into quantum systems engineering? Subscribe to New Quantum Era to catch every episode exploring the engineering breakthroughs that will define quantum computing's future.

Share this episode with colleagues working on complex technical systems—the insights on team dynamics and long-term R&D strategy apply far beyond quantum computing.

Join our community of quantum computing professionals, researchers, and technically curious minds who are shaping this field's development.

From Steel Mills to Quantum Scale-Up: Inside Illinois's Bold Bet on the Future of Computing

What does it take to build the world's largest dedicated quantum technology park — on the site of a former steel mill? Harley Johnson is leading that effort, and the answer involves equal parts materials science, economic development, and a 30-year bet on quantum that's finally paying off.

Why This Episode Matters

If you're following the quantum computing industry's path from lab prototypes to commercial-scale systems, this episode maps the terrain. Harley Johnson — a computational materials scientist turned CEO of the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park (IQMP) — explains how Illinois assembled a unique combination of federal research funding, state economic investment, national labs, and top-tier universities into a 128-acre technology park designed to solve the quantum industry's hardest problem: scaling up.

Whether you're a researcher, a founder, a policymaker, or someone trying to understand where quantum jobs and applications are actually headed, this conversation lays out how one state is building the infrastructure — physical, institutional, and human — to make large-scale quantum computing real.

What You'll Learn

• How a 1994 bet on quantum mechanics in a mechanical engineering lab led to directing the largest dedicated quantum tech park in the world
• Why Illinois chose a "beyond silicon" strategy for the CHIPS and Science Act — and how landing 4 of the first 10 federal quantum centers positioned the state for what came next
• How IQMP's public-private governance model works: a university-governed LLC partnering with private developers, accountable to the public while incentivizing industry
• Why the park deliberately hosts a diverse portfolio of hardware modalities — including PsiQuantum, IBM, Inflection, Dirac, and Pascal — and how that mirrors venture portfolio thinking
• How IQMP's algorithm center connects quantum hardware companies with Fortune 500 end users in finance, insurance, energy, logistics, and pharma
• What the DARPA Quantum Benchmarking Initiative means for tenant selection and validation
• Why roughly two-thirds of future quantum industry jobs may require a bachelor's degree or less — and what that means for workforce development on a former industrial site
• How the Duality Accelerator, Chicago Quantum Exchange, and Polsky Center create a pipeline from early-stage startups to scale-up tenants
• Why the convergence of physics, engineering, and computer science — all housed in one college at UIUC — is accelerating quantum's transition from science to engineering

Sponsor

Resources & Links

Guest Links

• Harley Johnson — Professor, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering and Materials Science 
• Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park (IQMP)

Organizations & Programs

• Chicago Quantum Exchange (CQE) — regional hub coordinating quantum research, workforce studies, and industry engagement 
• Duality Accelerator — quantum startup accelerator run through the Polsky Center at the University of Chicago 
• Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, University of Chicago
• DARPA Quantum Benchmarking Initiative — federal program validating progress toward useful quantum computing 
• NSF MRSEC at UIUC — Materials Research Science and Engineering Center focused on electronic and quantum materials 

Policy & Funding

• CHIPS and Science Act — federal legislation driving investment in semiconductor and quantum technology manufacturing in the US 

Companies Mentioned

• PsiQuantum — photonic quantum computing company scaling up at IQMP
• IBM — anchor tenant at IQMP with longstanding partnership with UIUC

Key Quotes & Insights

"When I heard my friends who are experimental physicists say, 'We know how to do it, now it's just an engineering problem,' I said great — now you've thrown down the gauntlet. Let the engineers at it."

"Something like two-thirds of the jobs that this industry will eventually create will require a bachelor's degree or less." — On workforce projections from Chicago Quantum Exchange research

"Our neighbors and community members are learning about quantum and thinking about how my grandson gets a job in quantum. Because my family, until now, we're steelworkers." — On the community impact of building a quantum park on a former US Steel site

"We're seeing a convergence of the great productive academic minds from computer science, engineering, and physics working now on the same problems. I'm not sure we saw that even five years ago."

Related Episodes

• Alejandra Y. Castillo — Quantum as a Regional Economic Development Engine — Castillo, former Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development, discusses how quantum technologies fit into federal and state economic strategy through the CHIPS and Science Act, EDA Tech Hubs, and inclusive workforce development. Essential context for understanding the policy and economic framework that IQMP operates within.
• Martin Laforest — Building Quebec's Quantum Ecosystem — Laforest, partner at Quantacet and advisor to Canada's National Quantum Strategy, traces how Quebec built one of the world's strongest quantum ecosystems through decades of strategic investment — starting with a bet on condensed matter physics in the 1970s. A compelling parallel to the Illinois story and a window into how this pattern is playing out globally.
• Nadya Mason — Quantum Leadership — Mason, the dean of the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at University of Chicago, is a major force on the academic side of the Illinois quantum ecosystem, and has strong views on what's needed in terms of inclusion and education. 

Breaking Down RSA: How QLDPC Codes Cut Quantum Computing Requirements by an Order of Magnitude

What if I told you that the number of qubits needed to break RSA encryption just dropped from over a million to around 100,000? That's exactly what researchers at Iceberg Quantum achieved by combining quantum low-density parity-check (QLDPC) error correction with algorithmic optimizations—potentially accelerating quantum cryptography timelines by years.

Why this episode matters

This episode dives into groundbreaking research that could reshape quantum computing's practical timeline. We explore how QLDPC codes overcome the physical constraints of surface codes, why hardware diversity is driving new error correction approaches, and what this means for the race toward cryptographically relevant quantum computers.

Perfect for quantum researchers, cryptography professionals, and anyone curious about the engineering challenges between today's quantum devices and tomorrow's code-breaking machines.

What you'll learn

• Why QLDPC codes outperform surface codes — How throwing out nearest-neighbor connectivity assumptions unlocks better physical-to-logical qubit ratios across multiple hardware platforms 
• The algorithmic tricks that matter — How shared register reads and parallelization techniques can dramatically reduce runtime on slower quantum hardware platforms like trapped ions and neutral atoms
•  What "hardware agnostic" really means — Why developing error correction methods that work across superconducting, trapped ion, photonic, and neutral atom platforms is crucial for the quantum ecosystem
• How generalized ladder surgery enables logical operations — The breakthrough that made QLDPC codes viable for full quantum computation, not just quantum memory storage
• Why decoding remains the bottleneck — The real-time classical computation challenges that still need solving to make fault-tolerant quantum computing practical
• The business model emerging around quantum architecture — How companies like Iceberg are positioning themselves as the "ARM or Nvidia" of quantum computing through specialized fault-tolerant designs
• What cryptographers should know now — Why the timeline for cryptographically relevant quantum computers may be compressing faster than expected, and why algorithmic improvements matter as much as hardware scaling

Resources & links

• Iceberg Quantum's Pinnacle paper — "Reducing the Overhead of Quantum Error Correction with QLDPC Codes"
• Craig Gidney's foundational Shor's algorithm optimization work
• Scott Aaronson's blog analysis of the research implications

 Sponsor

Key insights & quotes

• "We think this is an immensely fundamentally valuable thing to do — when hardware improvements and reduced resource requirements converge, we'll be able to do something useful." — Larry, Iceberg Quantum CSO
• "It would probably be a big mistake to assume that the numbers are not going to keep going down" — on future resource requirement reductions for RSA breaking
• "At every level of scaling, new challenges emerge — it's not just a matter of taking a zero off your number" — Paul Webster on why order-of-magnitude improvements translate to real timeline changes
• "There's no obvious reason why something like the Pinnacle architecture wouldn't have an obvious impact once hardware companies reach hundreds of thousands of qubits" — on practical implementation timelines
• "This is why it's so important to have this broader perspective and not be too dependent on the assumptions of one hardware platform" — on the value of hardware-agnostic approaches

How a Lawyer and a Listicle Launched One of Quantum's Most Influential Media Platforms

Evan Kubes had no physics degree, no engineering background, and no idea what a qubit was when he stumbled across a press release about AWS investing in quantum. What he did have was experience translating complex industries for mainstream audiences — and within months, he and co-founder Alex Challans had turned a Wix website and a "Top 20 Most Influential People in Quantum" listicle into The Quantum Insider, now one of the industry's leading media and intelligence platforms. In this episode, Evan shares how that scrappy start grew into Resonance, a multi-vertical deep tech media company — and why he spent the last year making Our Quantum Future, a feature-length documentary premiering at APS March Meeting that aims to bring quantum out of the echo chamber and onto your screen.

Why this episode matters

This episode marks a new chapter for The New Quantum Era. In the intro, Sebastian shares some big updates — going fully independent, new media projects including the Helgoland 2025 documentary, a newsletter, and broader efforts to build a more accessible and equitable quantum technology ecosystem through open source and open standards. He also announces his new role as a Fellow at the Unitary Foundation. Read the full blog post: A New Chapter.

The conversation with Evan Kubes is a perfect fit for this moment. Evan sits at the intersection of quantum's technical community and the broader world trying to make sense of it — a translator between physicists and the public. His story illuminates something the industry rarely discusses: how do you actually build awareness, trust, and market understanding for a technology most people can't explain?

The documentary Our Quantum Future, produced for the International Year of Quantum and featuring Nobel laureates, a former CIA officer, and the leaders of Google, Microsoft, and IonQ, is designed for exactly that audience — the curious non-specialist who wants to understand what quantum means for the world. The ethics and national security themes it surfaces are relevant well beyond the quantum community.

What you'll learn

• How The Quantum Insider went from zero readers to a leading quantum industry platform using a creative "vanity listicle" strategy that got CEOs to respond overnight
• Why a lawyer from the esports world saw the same market opportunity in quantum that venture capitalists were pouring billions into — and what that says about the accessibility gap in deep tech
• How the Resonance media model applies The Quantum Insider playbook to space, AI, and climate tech — and what makes a deep tech vertical ripe for this approach
• What 39 interviews across 40 countries revealed about how the quantum community thinks about ethics — including a striking divide between engineers ("I'm just solving a hard problem") and policymakers ("we need safeguards now")
• The Oppenheimer parallel: how the documentary draws a direct line between the atomic bomb's development and today's quantum technology, and why some builders don't think about consequences while others think about nothing else
• A former CIA operative's reframing of quantum advantage as incremental compounding — 1% better per year for five years — and why that makes quantum feel much more real today than the "break all encryption" narrative suggests
• Why academics and corporate leaders consistently disagree on quantum's timeline, and where Evan lands after a year of filming both camps

Resources & links

Guest links

• The Quantum Insider — Quantum industry media, intelligence, and data platform co-founded by Evan
• Resonance — Parent company extending the deep tech media model to space, AI, climate tech [link to confirm]
• Our Quantum Future — Documentary website with sign-up for distribution updates

People mentioned in the episode

• Alex Challans — Co-founder and CEO of The Quantum Insider; Evan's business partner
• Nicholas Ogler — Former CIA operative featured in the documentary; redefines quantum advantage from a national security lens
• Dr. Bill Phillips — Nobel Prize-winning physicist; discusses his bet with Carl Williams on the quantum advantage timeline
• Dr. John Doyle — Professor of quantum at Harvard, president of APS; draws the Oppenheimer parallel
• Ilyas Khan — Former CEO of Quantinuum; argues for educational licensing frameworks around quantum technology
• Eric Cornell — Nobel Prize winner featured in the documentary

Mentioned in the intro

• A New Chapter — NQE blog post — Sebastian's full announcement on going independent, new projects, and the future of the podcast
• Unitary Foundation — Open-source quantum technology ecosystem; Sebastian is now a Fellow

Key quotes & insights

Sponsor

Join the conversation

• See the film: Visit ourquantumfuture.com to sign up for distribution updates — the premiere is at APS March Meeting in Boulder, with broader release to follow.
• Read the blog ...

What does it take to build a thriving quantum ecosystem from the ground up? Martin Laforest, physicist-turned-venture-capitalist at Quantacet, reveals how Quebec transformed a 1970s academic bet into a $400M quantum powerhouse—and why the industry's biggest misconception is thinking quantum computing is either a science problem or an engineering problem when it's clearly both.

Summary
In this conversation, Sebastian sits down with Martin Laforest, partner at Quantacet, Canada's quantum-only VC fund, to explore the messy realities of building quantum companies and ecosystems. Martin brings a rare perspective: PhD from Waterloo's Institute for Quantum Computing, eight years leading scientific outreach, a stint building a post-quantum cryptography startup with ex-BlackBerry executives, and now investing in the quantum future.

This episode is for anyone trying to understand how quantum technology actually gets built—not the hype, but the infrastructure, the collaboration models, the government investment strategies, and the patience required. Whether you're technical or just curious about how transformative technologies emerge, Martin offers a grounded view of what's working, what's not, and why the quantum revolution looks more like slow, deliberate ecosystem building than overnight breakthroughs.

What You'll Learn

• Why quantum is both a science and engineering challenge and how the vacuum tube-to-transistor transition illuminates today's quantum journey
• How Quebec built a world-class quantum ecosystem starting from a 1970s university bet on condensed matter physics through to today's $400M provincial investment
• The infrastructure that matters: why Sherbrooke's six shared dilution fridges and quantum communication testbed represent a different collaboration model
• What VCs actually look for in quantum startups beyond the technology—and why Martin believes early-stage investing is about building great companies, not just returns
• The three most dangerous misconceptions plaguing quantum technology (spoiler: it's not just about quantum computers)
• How regional quantum ecosystems should compete and collaborate with lessons from Netherlands, Chicago, and UK programs
• Why fundamental research funding can't stop even as commercialization accelerates—and what happens when governments don't understand this balance
• What "mutualized infrastructure" means in practice and why no single entity owning critical testbeds might be the secret sauce
• How federal and provincial politics shape quantum strategy in Canada and what other countries can learn from it

Resources & Links

• Quantacet
• Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC)
• University of Sherbrooke Institute Quantique
• C2MI semiconductor fabrication facility
• QuantumDELTA

Key Insights

On the science vs. engineering debate:
"People ask if quantum computing is still a science problem or just engineering. It's both. Look at the vacuum tube to transistor transition—we needed new physics and new engineering. That's exactly where we are now."

On ecosystem building:
"Sherbrooke made a bet on condensed matter physics in the 1970s. Fifty years later, they have six dilution fridges available for rent and a quantum communication testbed owned by no one. That infrastructure patience is what builds real ecosystems."

On VC philosophy:
"Early-stage venture capital is about building great companies. The money is a byproduct. If you focus on the returns first, you'll make the wrong decisions every time."

On common misconceptions:
"The biggest myth is that quantum technology equals quantum computing. We have quantum sensors, quantum communications, post-quantum crypto—this is a multi-faceted industry, not a single magic box."

On balancing research and commercialization:
"You can't stop funding fundamental research just because commercialization is happening. The vacuum tube didn't kill physics research. We need both engines running or the whole thing stalls."

Join the Conversation

Subscribe to The New Quantum Era wherever you get your podcasts to hear more conversations with the people building quantum technology's future.

What if consciousness isn’t generated by the brain, but emerges from its interaction with a ubiquitous quantum field? In this episode, Sebastian Hassinger and theoretical physicist Joachim Keppler explore a zero‑point field model of consciousness that could reshape both neuroscience and quantum theory.

Summary
This conversation is for anyone curious about the “hard problem” of consciousness, quantum brain theories, and the future of quantum biology and AI. Joachim shares his QED‑based framework where the brain couples to the electromagnetic zero‑point field via glutamate, producing macroscopic quantum effects that correlate with conscious states. You’ll hear how this model connects existing neurophysiology, testable predictions, and deep questions in philosophy of mind.

What You’ll Learn

•  How a quantum field theorist ended up founding an institute for the scientific study of consciousness and building a rigorous, physics‑grounded framework for it.
•  Why consciousness may hinge on a universal principle: the brain’s resonant coupling to the electromagnetic zero‑point field, not just classical neural firing.
•  What macroscopic quantum phenomena in the brain look like, including coherence domains, self‑organized criticality, and long‑range synchronized activity patterns linked to conscious states.
•  How glutamate, the brain’s most abundant neurotransmitter, could act as the molecular interface to the zero‑point field inside cortical microcolumns.
•  Which concrete experiments could confirm or falsify this theory, from detecting macroscopic quantum coherence in neurotransmitter molecules to measuring glutamate‑driven biophoton emissions with a specific quantum “fingerprint.”
•  Why Joachim sees the zero‑point field as a dual‑aspect “psychophysical” field and how that reframes classic philosophy‑of‑mind debates about qualia and the nature of awareness.
•  What this perspective implies for artificial consciousness and whether future quantum computers or engineered systems might couple to the field and become genuinely conscious rather than merely simulating it.
•  How quantum biology could offer an evolutionary path for consciousness, extending field‑coupling ideas from the human brain down to simpler organisms and bacterial signaling.

Resources & Links

• DIWISS Research Institute for the scientific study of consciousness
•  “Macroscopic quantum effects in the brain: new insights into the neural correlates of consciousness” – Research article outlining the QED/zero‑point field model and its neurophysiological connections.
•  “A New Way of Looking at the Neural Correlates of Consciousness” – Paper introducing the idea that the full spectrum of qualia is encoded in the zero‑point field.
•  “The Role of the Brain in Conscious Processes: A New Way of Understanding the Neural Correlates of Consciousness” – Further develops the brain‑as‑interface, ZPF‑based framework
• Human high intelligence is involved in spectral redshift of biophotonic activities in the brain - studies on glutamate‑linked emissions in brain tissue – Experiments that inform potential tests of the theory.

Key Quotes or Insights

•  “The brain may not produce consciousness; it may tune into it by coupling to the zero‑point field, like a resonant oscillator accessing a universal substrate of awareness.”
•  “Conscious states correspond to macroscopic quantum patterns in the brain—highly synchronized, near‑critical dynamics that disappear when the field coupling breaks down in unconsciousness.”
•  “Glutamate‑rich cortical microcolumns could be the molecular gateway to the zero‑point field, forming coherence domains that orchestrate neuronal firing from the bottom up.”
•  “If we can engineer systems that replicate this field‑coupling mechanism, we might not just simulate consciousness—we might be building genuinely conscious artificial systems.”
•  “Quantum biology could reveal an evolutionary continuum of field‑coupling, from simple organisms to humans, reframing how we think about life, intelligence, and mind.”