SOUTH KINGSTOWN – During its World Quantum Day festivities on Friday, the University of Rhode Island announced a new multimillion-dollar quantum computing initiative that is aimed to better position university students and the state’s workforce to be prepared for the next wave of computer technology.
URI said the initiative, which will be supported by a $1 million federal earmark and other funding from the university’s College of Arts and Sciences and the Graduate School of Oceanography, includes a new research partnership with IBM. Along with providing students and faculty with access to the international technology company’s quantum computing systems, the initiative will bring new visiting faculty, postdoctoral researchers and graduate students to URI in support of the university’s master’s and graduate certificate programs in quantum computing, URI said.
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URI plans to add four new visiting faculty, four postdoctoral researchers and four graduate teaching assistants in the coming years, the university said. In a statement, URI President Marc B. Parlange said the university, through this initiative, will harness faculty expertise in guiding the development of quantum technologies, while also giving students opportunities “to hit the ground running with a technology that promises to reshape our world.”
“As Rhode Island’s flagship university, it’s incumbent upon us to be in a leadership position when it comes to the technologies that will shape the future of our state and nation,” Parlange said.
URI also said access to IBM’s technology will also enable a new research partnership between the university and the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport. That project, URI said, will support research into the use of quantum systems that operate autonomous underwater vehicles.
University faculty will also work with a nonprofit group called Qubit by Qubit, URI said, to provide outreach to the state’s high school students. The outreach will include scholarships for high school students to participate in summer workshops and research internships with URI faculty on campus, the university said.
“One of our goals in the College of Arts and Sciences is to prepare students not only for today’s job market, but also for jobs that are sure to exist in the future,” URI College of Arts and Sciences Dean Jen Riley said in a statement. “This initiative is an example of how we do that. We’re making sure our students already have experience with quantum systems the day they come online and helps position URI as a leader in this emerging technology.”
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
