IBM Corporation logo. (PRNewsFoto/IBM Corporation) (PRNewsFoto/) (PRNewsfoto/IBM)
IBM announced that North Carolina State University (NC State) will join the IBM Q Network as the first university-based IBM Q Hub in North America. The university will work directly with IBM to advance quantum computing and industry collaborations, as part of the IBM Q Network’s growing quantum computing ecosystem.
A collaboration of leading Fortune 500 companies, academic institutions and national research labs, the IBM Q Network provides early access to IBM Q commercial quantum computing systems, via the IBM Cloud, with the goal of exploring practical applications important to business and science. Hubs within the network are critical for accelerated industry collaborations, learning, skills development and implementation of quantum computing, globally.
NC State will broadly engage in joint collaborations with industry and research affiliates to explore quantum computing. The university will have access to IBM Q commercial quantum computing devices, including the most advanced and scalable universal quantum computing systems available, starting with a 20 qubit IBM Q system, followed by a 50 qubit system which will be made available in the next generation IBM Q systems.
“Academic collaborations are essential to growing the quantum computing community as we look to discover practical quantum applications and drive business and scientific breakthroughs,” said Dr. Bob Sutor, vice president of IBM Q Strategy and Ecosystem, IBM Research. “Building on a 30-year research and education partnership, NC State will play a key role in helping IBM continue to extend our quantum computing ecosystem.”
NC State will help foster the growth of a quantum computing ecosystem which is based on IBM’s open source quantum software and developer tools, including the public IBM Q Experience, which offers access to 5 qubit and 16 qubit systems; and the open quantum software development kit, QISKit, which allows users to create and run quantum computing programs. To date, more than 80,000 users of the IBM Q Experience, have run more than 4 million experiments and generated more than 65 third-party research publications.
“The hub will create a unique opportunity for NC State to address its strategic plan of supporting interdisciplinary scholarship and preparing students for the future,” said Dr. Alan Rebar, vice chancellor for research and innovation at NC State. “Our researchers and students will work with IBM scientists, engineers and consultants to further explore and advance quantum computing. The hub, which will be operated from NC State’s Centennial Campus, will also drive new curriculum development at NC State, focused on quantum computing.”
North Carolina State University is the latest university hub to join the IBM Q Network, which currently includes University of Oxford, Keio University, and University of Melbourne. Additional IBM Q hubs include IBM Research and Oak Ridge National Lab.
