ExpandQISE: Track 2: NC A&T QISE Research Workforce Development Programs

Non-Technical Description: Solutions to numerous complex scientific problems are directly related to the availability of suitable computational capabilities – speed and accuracy and sophistication. We are rapidly approaching the upper limits of classical supercomputers capabilities, hence the need to design new computer systems that will contribute to the solution of complex challenges.

The advent of quantum computer systems promises to bring about revolutionary changes to all human endeavors – with immediate interest in application of quantum computing, quantum sensing, quantum chemistry, and quantum biology. This coming quantum revolution is strongly dependent on having a skilled quantum information science & engineering (QISE) workforce capable of taking the novel ideas to breakthrough quantum-based products in the marketplace.

North Carolina A&T State University (NC A&T) is the largest public Historically Black College and University (HBCU) and a leading producer of African American undergraduate physical sciences and engineering degrees. NC A&T’s faculty and students have embarked on a comprehensive QISE workforce development programs which leverages its institutional academic strengths and long-term strategic plan to enable highly productive partnerships with key industrial stakeholders and academic experts.

This strategic partnership will catalyze cutting-edge QISE research, enhance nascent QISE academic programs, and expand the engagement of African American and women in the QISE workforce.

Technical Description: The utilization of Noisy, Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) devices to solve challenging scientific problems has been hampered by the low coherence in massively entangled quantum systems. Hence, investigators have developed a variety of strategies to minimize the limitations and maximize the strengths of current NISQ computers.

Our team will employ several variational quantum algorithm techniques to enable the exploitation of the computational advantages of NISQ computers in the areas of hypersonic flow and the design of novel 2D quantum materials. The team consists of academic institutions (NC A&T, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Ohio State University, and the University of the West Indies), a national laboratory (Brookhaven National Laboratory), a private research organization (Universities Space Research Association), and a leading quantum computing service provider (qBraid).

The ExpandQISE: Track 2: NC A&T QISE Research Workforce Development Programs consists of: Core Research Projects (Quantum algorithms for computational fluid dynamics of nonlinear flows; quantum computational chemistry for the design and fabrication of novel semiconductor and quantum materials), a Development Project (construction and operation of a programmable quantum computer); and the design and implementation of QISE education research and workforce development projects (QISE Undergraduate Scholars Program; QISE Short Course Series).

This project is jointly funded by the Historically Black Colleges and Universities - Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP), the Office of Multidisciplinary Activities (MPS/OMA), and the Technology Frontiers Program (TIP/TF).

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.