Workshops Program

Workshops Scope and Goals

IEEE Quantum Week 2021 Workshops provide forums for group (i.e., 20–50 participants) discussions on QCE21 topics in quantum research, practice, education, and applications. Workshops provide opportunities for researchers, practitioners, scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, developers, students, educators, programmers, and newcomers to exchange and discuss scientific and engineering ideas at an early stage before they have matured to warrant a conference or journal publication. In this manner, an IEEE Quantum Week workshop serves as a forum for common interests or as an incubator for a scientific community to form a research roadmap or share a research agenda. Workshops are the key to sustaining, growing, and evolving IEEE Quantum Week in the future. Note IEEE Quantum Week is a multidisciplinary quantum computing venue.

Workshops Chair and Contact

Travis Humble, Oak Ridge National Laboratory — [email protected]

Workshops Program

Each workshop at IEEE Quantum Week 2021 is 3.0 or 4.5 hours long (i.e., two or three sessions on the same day of 90 mins with 45 mins breaks between the sessions) as follows: 10:45-12:15, 13:00-14:30, and 15:15-16:45 Mountain Time (MDT) or UTC-6. Note: Sunday, Oct 17 Workshops are at different times.


QCE21 Workshops Overview

Sun, Oct 17 — Wks 01 — Advanced Simulations of Quantum Computations — Part 1

Yuri Alexeev: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), USA
Dmitry Liakh: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), USA
Adam Lyon: Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), USA
Salvatore Mandra: NASA Ames Research Center, USA
Alexander McCaskey: ORNL, USA
Thien Nguyen: ORNL, USA
Matthew Otten: HRL Laboratories, USA

Sun, Oct 17 — Wks 02 — Pathways to Quantum: An Introductory Workshop on Quantum Computing for Youth

Prashanti Priya Angara, Ulrike Stege, Andrew MacLean: University of Victoria, Canada
Tom Markham, Curtis Volin: Honeywell Quantum Solutions, USA

Mon, Oct 18 — Wks 03 — Quantum Computing Entrepreneurship

Andy Chen: IEEE TEMS, Canada
Joanne Wong: IEEE Entrepreneurship, Canada
Rafael Sotelo: Universidad de Montevideo, Uruguay
Stephen Ibaraki: REDDS Capital, Canada

Mon, Oct 18 — Wks 01&2 — Advanced Simulations of Quantum Computations — Part 2

Yuri Alexeev: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), USA
Tom Gibbs: NVIDIA, USA
Dmitry Liakh: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), USA
Adam Lyon: Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), USA
Salvatore Mandra: NASA Ames Research Center, USA
Alexander McCaskey: ORNL, USA
Thien Nguyen: ORNL, USA
Matthew Otten: HRL Laboratories, USA

Mon, Oct 18 — Wks 05 — Quantum Computing Opportunities in Renewable Energy and Climate Change

Annarita Giani: GE Research, USA
Zachary Eldredge: Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) Department of Energy (DOE), USA

Tue, Oct 19 — Wks 06 — Standardized Quantum Control with QOP: Single Control System for All Qubit Platforms

Yonatan Cohen, Gal Winer, Miri Brook, Ramon Szmuk, Lior Ella, Arthur Strauss: Quantum Machines, Israel

Tue, Oct 19 — Wks 07 — Quantum Software Engineering and Technology

Ricardo Pérez-Castillo, Mario Piattini, Manuel Serrano: University of Castilla-La Mancha & aQuantum, Spain

Tue, Oct 19 — Wks 09 — Cryogenic Electronics for Quantum Systems

Farah Fahim: Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), USA
Edoardo Charbon: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Switzerland

Tue, Oct 19 — Wks 10 — Remotely Programmable Quantum Sensing and Simulation

Hannah North: ColdQuanta, USA
Carrie Weidner: Aarhus University, Denmark
Brittany Mazin: ColdQuanta, USA

Wed, Oct 20 — Wks 11 — Quantum Artificial Intelligence

Prasanna Date, Kathleen Hamilton, Alex McCaskey, Andrea Delgado: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), USA

Wed, Oct 20 — Wks 12 — Engineering Challenges in Scaling from NISQ to Universal Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computers

Nizar Messaoudi: Keysight Technologies, Canada
Russell Lake: Bluefors Oy, Finland

Wed, Oct 20 — Wks 13 — Integrating High-Performance Computing with Quantum Computing

Sven Karlsson: Technical University of Denmark
Laura Schulz: Leibniz Supercomputing Centre, Germany
Martin Schulz: Technical University of Munich, Germany

Thu, Oct 21 — Wks 15 — Ultra-low Power Electronics for Superconducting Quantum Processors

Anton Potocnik: imec, Belgium
Frank Wilhelm-Mauch: Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany

Thu, Oct 21 — Wks 16 — Developing Effective Methodologies to Teach Quantum Information Science to Early-Stage Learners

Samanvay Sharma: Keio University, Japan
Lia Yeh: Oxford University, UK
Alberto Maldonado: Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico
Richard Kienhoefer: University of Nevada Reno, USA
Kevin Jofroit Joven Noriega: Universidad del Valle, Colombia
Praveen Jayakumar: Indian Institute of Science, India

Thu, Oct 21 — Wks 17 — Developing the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm

Rebekah Herrman: University of Tennessee Knoxville, USA
Phillip Lotshaw: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA

Thu, Oct 21 — Wks 18 — Quantum Computing for High-Energy Physics

Andrea Delgado: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), USA
Jean-Roch Vlimant: California Institute of Technology, USA
Sofia Vallecorsa: CERN, Switzerland

Fri, Oct 22 — Wks 19 — Quantum Hardware Design and Analysis

Thomas McConkey, Zlatko Minev, Nicholas Bronn: IBM Quantum, USA​

Fri, Oct 22 — Wks 20 — Progress and Challenges in Quantum Intermediate Representations

Alexander McCaskey: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), USA
Bettina Heim: Microsoft, USA
Yudong Cao: Zapata Computing, USA
Will Zeng: Unitary Fund, USA
Sarah Kaiser: Unitary Fund, USA

Fri, Oct 22 — Wks 23 — Scalability of Quantum Computing Systems: Device-Architecture Crosslayer Co-design

Carmen Almudever: Technical University of Valencia, Spain
Eduard Alarcon: Technical University of Catalonia


QCE21 Workshops Abstracts


Sun, Oct 17 — Wks 02 — Pathways to Quantum: An Introductory Workshop on Quantum Computing for Youth

Prashanti Priya Angara, Ulrike Stege, Andrew MacLean: University of Victoria, Canada
Tom Markham, Curtis Volin: Honeywell Quantum Solutions, USA

Date: Sunday, Oct 17, 2021
Time: 10:45-15:15 Mountain Time (MDT) — UTC-6
Abstract: Quantum Computing is an emerging technology that is not just expected to overcome some of the limitations of classical computing but also to revolutionize computing by enabling breakthroughs in chemistry, drug design, optimization, and machine learning, to name a few. With improvements in the availability, accuracy and power of quantum computers, the demand for a skilled workforce in quantum computing increases significantly. This virtual workshop for youth is delivered at a level that is suitable for this age group. It introduces some basic principles of quantum computing including include qubit systems, quantum gates, measurement, superposition, entanglement, and quantum teleportation. Participants will have a hands-on introduction to quantum software via IBM Quantum and Qiskit as well as an introduction to different kinds of quantum hardware and how they are engineered. The workshop also provides opportunities to discuss possible pathways into the field of quantum computing.
Keywords: 
Quantum computing education, quantum computing for high schoolers and teachers, quantum gates, measurement, superposition,
entanglement, Honeywell, Qiskit, CS-unplugged 
Target Audience: We expect about 35 attendees, who will be primarily high-school-aged students (grades 9-12). Observers and teachers are encouraged and are most welcome to attend.

Mon, Oct 18 — Wks 03 — Quantum Computing Entrepreneurship

Andy Chen: IEEE TEMS, Canada
Joanne Wong: IEEE Entrepreneurship, Canada
Rafael Sotelo: Universidad de Montevideo, Uruguay
Stephen Ibaraki: REDDS Capital, Canada

Date: Monday, Oct 18, 2021
Time: 10:45-16:45 Mountain Time (MDT) — UTC-6
Abstract: Quantum Computing (QC) is experiencing a turning point. It has been a theoretical promise since the beginning of 1990`s. A lot of research effort has been invested, especially in two areas. First, on the mathematics, logics and algorithms area. Second, quantum physicist and materials experts have been working on how to implement such a machine. Now, there are a few quantum computers available online through different providers. The industry is very optimistic about increasing the computing power in a sustained rate during the following years. So, the promise of real software applications solving daily problems are close to come. That is why the field now is attractive for software companies and startups. There is a lot of public activities, either academic, commercial and governmental, concerning QC, and the field is gaining much interest and investments.
Keywords: Quantum Computing, Entrepreneurship, Intrapreneurship, Venture Capitals, Technological Investment
Target Audience: Scientists, engineers, researchers interested in learning on how to develop their own start-up. Entrepreneurs interested in networking and sharing experiences. Investors interested in finding opportunities in the field of quantum computing. Companies interested in broadening its field of interest to quantum computing.
Workshop Agenda — Quantum Computing Entrepreneurship
Session 1: Quantum Computing Viewed from Industry @ 10:45-12:15 Mountain Time (MDT) — UTC-6

Moderator

Panelists

Abstract

This session will bring together experts from different sectors of Industry and non-profits. The panel will share complex problems the industry has, which may be solved by QC. Are companies internalizing QC? How are they getting prepared?
Session 2: Quantum Computing Startups from an Investors Perspective @ 13:00-14:30 Mountain Time (MDT) — UTC-6

Moderator

  • Joanne Wong, 2022 Chair, IEEE Entrepreneurship & Investor, REDDS Capital

Panelists

Abstract

In this session our investor panel will focus on the particularities of investing in QC, the markers investors look for in a QC start-up, how a QC start-up is valued and more. In addition, the panelists will discuss the many available resources for supporting QC entrepreneurship.
Session 3: Quantum Computing Entrepreneurship from an Academic Perspective @ 15:15-16:45 Mountain Time (MDT) — UTC-6

Moderator

  • Rafael Sotelo – Quantum South / Universidad de Montevideo, Uruguay

Panelists

Keywords: Quantum Computing, Entrepreneurship, Intrapreneurship, Venture Capitals, Technological Investment
Target Audience: Scientists, engineers, researchers interested in learning on how to develop their own start-up. Entrepreneurs interested in networking and sharing experiences. Investors interested in finding opportunities in the field of quantum computing. Companies interested in broadening its field of interest to quantum computing.

Date: Monday, Oct 18, 2021
Time: 10:45-16:45 Mountain Time (MDT) — UTC-6
Abstract: Successful technology ecosystems that drive innovation often embrace consistent foundational tenants including open standards, attractive value exchange amongst participants, and promotion of tooling, capabilities focused on mitigating barriers to usage. For Quantum Computing, adhering to these tenants and bringing together diverse capabilities from across the stack should encourage continuous improvement to the state of the art as a community and thus should further accelerate innovation.
This workshop will investigate and discuss the Azure Quantum ecosystem in detail. Key ecosystem capabilities designed to further innovation will be covered in detail (Q#, Quantum Development Kit). Azure Quantum partners Cambridge Quantum Computing, Honeywell Quantum Solutions, IonQ, Quantum Circuits Inc. and QunaSys, spanning hardware, software and application ecosystem layers, will share their expertise, including detailed technical discussion of their current capabilities and implementation examples. Participants will be encouraged to discuss and engage with presenting Subject Matter Experts to further community understanding. For more details including agenda and session speakers please visit: https://tcnickolas.github.io/qce21-Azure-Quantum.html
Invited Speakers: 

  • Mariia Mykhailova, Microsoft
  • Jason Iaconis, IonQ
  • Natalie Brown, Honeywell Quantum Solutions
  • Andrei Petrenko, QCI
  • Mark Jackson, CQC
  • Tennin Yan, QunaSys

Keywords: Quantum computing, quantum programming, Azure Quantum, Q#, QDK, QIR
Target Audience: No special technical background is required. Mix of researchers, developers, industry scientists with different areas of expertise, focus. We expect several Subject Matter Experts from Microsoft and one or two Subject Matter Experts from each participating ecosystem partner.

Mon, Oct 18 — Wks 05 — Quantum Computing Opportunities in Renewable Energy and Climate Change

Annarita Giani: GE Research, USA
Zachary Eldredge: Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) Department of Energy (DOE), USA

Date: Monday, Oct 18, 2021
Time: 10:45-16:45 Mountain Time (MDT) — UTC-6
Abstract: Quantum computing is poised to begin solving important, practical problems with real-world consequences. While the quantum sector prepares for this transition into applicability, a parallel transition is happening in the world of energy, where large-scale, fossil-fuel-driven generation is facing increased environmental scrutiny and competition from small-scale renewables with rapidly dropping prices. In this workshop, we will combine these technological trends and provide a forum for discussion and interaction among academia, industry, and government actors with relevant interests. This workshop will include discussion of both quantum computing devices, ranging from annealers to NISQ devices to future digital quantum computers, as well as a description of some of the major computational challenges facing renewable energy today – simulation for chemistry and forecasting; the rise of distributed generation; and scheduling and dispatch of variable renewable resources. Our goal is to identify the most fruitful areas of collaboration and identify what types of research need to be done to advance the field of renewable energy and quantum computing. We welcome participants in quantum computing to learn about this exciting and vital area of potential application and participants in renewable energy to present computational challenges and learn about the opportunities quantum computers represent.
Keywords: Quantum Computing, Renewable Energy, Climate Change, Computational Challenges 
Target Audience: Our target audience is a mix of researchers and leaders in quantum computing and others in renewable energy. The goal is to start a dialogue between two emerging fields. In quantum computing, we hope to attract researchers who are experts in near-term applications such as optimization, adiabatic quantum computing, and NISQ devices. Renewable energy experts desired include those with focuses on grid planning, operations, simulations, and chemical engineering (for energy storage or PV). We expect that the workshop will be primarily attended by experts in quantum computing, so we will prioritize the recruitment of renewable energy experts to balance the discussion.
Due to the focus on practical quantum computation, we anticipate that there will be many interested parties from quantum computing industry players. Developing a business case for quantum computing in the fast-growing renewable energy sector is likely to be very interesting to that audience. However, because there are many unanswered questions about the nature of quantum speed-ups for optimization or other near-term possibilities, we will also heavily value academic input and insight into the quantum computing state of the art.
Our first workshop brough together a number of companies and academic groups who have either conducted limited research into this intersection already or who are interested in doing so. We hope that participants in our first workshop will be excited to experience a second round, which the potential to deepen their own connections.

Thu, Oct 21 — Wks 16 — Developing Effective Methodologies to Teach Quantum Information Science to Early-Stage Learners

Samanvay Sharma: Keio University, Japan
Lia Yeh: Oxford University, UK
Alberto Maldonado: Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico
Richard Kienhoefer: University of Nevada Reno, USA
Kevin Jofroit Joven Noriega: Universidad del Valle, Colombia
Praveen Jayakumar: Indian Institute of Science, India

Date: Thursday, Oct 21, 2021
Time: 10:45-16:45 Mountain Time (MDT) — UTC-6
Keynote Speaker: 
  • Karen Jo Matsler, Assistant Professor, University of Texas Arlington and Principal Investigator of Quantum For All
Invited Speakers: 
  • Mariia Mykhailova, Microsoft
  • Francisca Vasconcelos, Rhodes Scholar, University of Oxford
  • Olivia Lanes, IBM
  • Conrad Haupt, Master in Quantum Engineering student, ETH Zürich
  • Maëva Ghonda, IEEE Chair, Quantum Computing Education for Workforce Development Program
  • Kae Nemoto, National Institute of Informatics, Japan
Features Speakers: 
  • Mark Hannum, K-12 Programs Manager, American  Association of Physics Teachers, USA
  • John Donohue, University of Waterloo, Canada
  • Devon Christman, University of California Santa Barbara, USA
  • Akashnarayanan B, QWorld, India
  • Özlem Salehi, Institute of Theoretical and Applied Informatics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland
  • Alessandro Luongo, Centre for Quantum Technologies, Singapore
Abstract: The objective of this workshop is to obtain key pedagogical insights into integrating basic quantum information concepts with current STEM education curriculum and support future generations of quantum educators and academicians. The current structure of high school teaching is segmented into core subjects, and the structure of community college and university teaching is segmented into major tracks. This poses a unique challenge in introducing the interdisciplinary nature of quantum to educators and students. We invite all participants to share how you learned the fundamental quantum science principles instrumental in inspiring and aiding you in your current learning, research, and/or professional development. In addition, we would ask each participant to brainstorm techniques to explain these concepts to high schoolers, roleplaying as high-school level teachers in mathematics, physics and computer science. These recommendations will present supportive methodologies to early adopting STEM instructors and curriculum developers in quantum information science. Crucially, this serves to motivate the need for quantum education, identify the translation from building essential skills to real world applications, and give valuable perspectives on how to learn quantum science from professionals in the quantum community.
Keywords: Quantum education, quantum information science, quantum computing, learning methods, high school learners
Target Audience: The workshop is targeted at the foundational level. We expect a balanced ratio of researchers, educators and professionals from academia and industry, interested in creating professional opportunities through education and awareness, and fairly experienced in quantum information to be able to drive thoughtful discussions when interacting with the audience as “QIS teachers” during workshop sessions, while also sharing their own experiences of learning these concepts. We also openly invite any students and early stage learners attending the conference with little background in quantum information and computing, expecting you to bring unique perspectives to the discussion as you play the role of “QIS learners” during workshop sessions.

Tue, Oct 19 — Wks 06 — Standardized Quantum Control with QOP: Single Control System for All Qubit Platforms

Yonatan Cohen, Gal Winer, Miri Brook, Ramon Szmuk, Lior Ella, Arthur Strauss: Quantum Machines, Israel

Date: Tuesday, Oct 19, 2021
Time: 10:45-16:45 Mountain Time (MDT) — UTC-6
Invited Speakers: 
  • Yonatan Cohen, Quantum Machines
  • Gal Winer, Quantum Machines
  • Miri Brook, Quantum Machines
  • Ramon Szmuk, Quantum Machines
  • Lior Ella, Quantum Machines
  • Arthur Strauss, Quantum Machines
Abstract: How do you control five different processors based on five qubit technologies from a single universal control system with a single and standard interface? In this workshop, we introduce the Quantum Orchestration Platform (QOP), which allows exactly this. We will discuss the underlying technology, the Pulse Processor, a new type of classical processor with a unique architecture that allows unprecedented flexibility in the applications that can run on a quantum control system. We will run live demos written in our platform-agnostic high-level language: QUA. These demos will show the quantum control abilities of the QOP on each of the following five qubit platforms: superconducting, quantum dots, trapped ions, neutral atoms, and NV/defect centers. We run applications starting at basic qubit characterization experiments and ending at complex multi-qubit control, including quantum error correction and hybrid quantum-classical algorithms. The QUA language, the demonstration protocols, and many additional tools and experiments are about to be open-sourced. In particular, the QUA libraries, the open-source repositories, are built with the goal of becoming a fully-featured resource, providing pre-built components to accelerate the development of quantum protocols. These include neural networks for state estimation, optimal control using black-box optimization techniques, Bayesian estimation procedures, and much more. Tools in the QUA libraries are designed to make deployment to any qubit platform seamless, thus providing a standard shared experience for the quantum community. It’s like Eurovision, but for quantum physics.
Keywords: quantum control, quantum orchestration, quantum error correction, quantum-classical algorithms, superconducting qubits, quantum dots, trapped ions, neutral atoms, NV centers, defect centers, quantum programming, quantum software
Target Audience: The workshop is aimed at all quantum computing researchers working with any qubit platform, particularly the five different qubit platforms we will discuss, namely, superconducting, quantum dots, trapped ions, neutral atoms, and NV/defect centers.

Tue, Oct 19 — Wks 07 — Quantum Software Engineering and Technology

Ricardo Pérez-Castillo, Mario Piattini, Manuel Serrano: University of Castilla-La Mancha & aQuantum, Spain

Date: Tuesday, Oct 19, 2021
Time: 10:45-16:45 Mountain Time (MDT) — UTC-6
Abstract: All the promising quantum computing applications will not succeed if the quantum software does not progress along with the last advances in quantum computing. Thus, emerging Quantum Software Engineering (QSE) community is demanding to produce quantum software in a systematic and controlled way with adequate quality levels. The Talavera Manifesto for Quantum Software Engineering and Programming pointed out that QSE is critical to the success of quantum computing. IEEE defines Software Engineering as the application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to the development, operation, and maintenance of software, as well as to the study of these approaches. This means, the application of engineering to software. This event attempts to serve as a forum to discuss the practice to produce quantum software by considering lessons learned from the software engineering field as well as other novel approaches. This implies to apply or adapt the existing software engineering processes, methods, techniques, and principles for the development of quantum software, or even to create new methods and techniques.
Keywords: Quantum Software Engineering, Quantum Programming Methods, Quantum Algorithms, Quantum Programming Languages, Quantum software evolution, Quantum metrics
Target Audience: The target audience are both, researchers and practitioners coming from the industry, that came up with innovative and significant advances or experiences in the field of Quantum Software Engineering and Technology; or those people that are interested on learning about this field.
First, this workshop might attract attendees coming from the quantum computing & engineering fields who wants to learn about how to develop quantum software. Second, this workshop will attract attendees coming from the traditional software engineering field who wants to learn about quantum computing technology and programming

Date: Tuesday, Oct 19, 2021
Time: 10:45-16:45 Mountain Time (MDT) — UTC-6
Shammah-Scholten-Workshop
Abstract: The past 5 years has witnessed an explosion of open-source tools for programming quantum computers. The open nature of these software tools has substantially increased the number of users of quantum computers, and created a whole new genre of programmer: the “quantum software engineer”. In turn, this has accelerated the development of quantum computing as a whole. Much less attention has been paid to the tools and components actually used to build quantum computers and make them accessible. From electronic design and analysis, to control systems, to the “bare metal” itself, much work has gone on behind the scenes. These tools and components are relevant to the day-to-day work of electrical engineers, designers of quantum hardware, and researchers investigating co-design between hardware and software. However, these (and other) tools for “open quantum hardware” are not widely discussed, nor their applicability as well-appreciated in the open-source and academic quantum computing communities. This workshop will bring together experts building these tools, and provide a clear overview of the state-of-the-art in open quantum hardware across design, control, and access to quantum computing systems. It will focus the conversation for the community of quantum engineers and software engineers on open challenges, including interoperability of these tools. In doing so, this workshop advances the development of quantum hardware — by accelerating the development of quantum technology solutions in open hardware — which, in turn, will produce an impact on the quantum technology ecosystem similar to that which has taken place in open quantum software.
Invited Speakers: 
  • Carmen G. Almudever, Technical University of Valencia
  • Sébastien Bourdeauducq, M-Labs
  • Susan Clark, Sandia National Lab Anna Grassellino, Fermilab
  • Zlatko Minev, IBM Research
  • Loic Henriet, PASQAL Sarah Kaiser, Unitary Fund
  • Guen Prawiroatmodjo, Microsoft Research
  • Anurag Saha Roy, Forschungszentrum Jülich
  • Irfan Siddiqi, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab
  • Gary Steele, TUDelft
  • Jacob Taylor, University of Maryland/JQI
Keywords: Open quantum hardware, quantum computing, open source, unitary fund, open source software, quantum computer, quantum open source, quantum technology, IBM quantum
Target Audience: The target audience for this workshop is software developers, those working within industry on hardware, and research students who wish to get involved with the quantum computing industry from a hardware perspective. For software developers, Session 2 on quantum control will introduce them to many open-source tools for qubit control, thereby opening up their horizons on how they could contribute to this effort. For those already within industry, Sessions 1 and 3 will be useful for contextualizing their own work, and potentially showing them other pieces of the growing open quantum hardware space that they may not have been aware of. Finally, for research students, all 3 sessions will give them grounding on why open quantum hardware is necessary, existing tools within that space, as well as examples (via testbeds) of how open quantum hardware can be made a practical reality.

Tue, Oct 19 — Wks 09 — Cryogenic Electronics for Quantum Systems

Farah Fahim: Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), USA
Edoardo Charbon: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Switzerland

Date: Tuesday, Oct 19, 2021
Time: 10:45-16:45 Mountain Time (MDT) — UTC-6
Abstract: Qubits for quantum processors, mostly operate at few tens of mK. In order to operate millions of qubits required to solve useful problems effectively, one needs to construct a classical infrastructure to read, correct, and control them. A novel, scalable solution for this operation can be provided by integrated cryo-electronics operating at 20 mK, or, most likely, at higher temperatures, such as 3-4K. In particular, cryogenic CMOS (cryo-CMOS) circuits have been shown to operate at these temperatures and to be adequate in the task. As a consequence intense research has been conducted on this topic in recent times, prompting the need for an international discussion on the topic.
Keywords: Deep cryogenic electronics, cryoelectronics, cryoCMOS, readout and control circuits, qubits 
Target Audience: The workshop aims to engage both established experts and emerging young researchers in engineering and physics disciplines, so as to provide a comprehensive overview on some of the most significant recent research results and on current, cutting-edge research trends in cryo-electronics to enable scaling of quantum systems. We will bring together scientists and engineers from the industry, academia and national labs engaged in advancing quantum technologies.

Wed, Oct 20 — Wks 11 — Quantum Artificial Intelligence

Prasanna Date, Kathleen Hamilton, Alex Mccaskey, Andrea Delgado: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), USA

Date: Wednesday, Oct 20, 2021
Time: 10:45-16:45 Mountain Time (MDT) — UTC-6
Abstract: Artificial Intelligence (AI) encompasses several tasks like visual perception, speech recognition, natural language understanding, and decision making. It has been a fundamental research thrust in computer science over the past century. In the current noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) era of quantum computing, there has been a proliferation of hybrid quantum-classical algorithms applied to AI and related tasks. This workshop aims to advance the state of quantum artificial intelligence (QAI) by highlighting recent research in the algorithms, applications and software frameworks pertaining to quantum AI. We will invite QAI experts from academia, industry and government research institutions to deliver talks that drive the QAI research forward. We also plan to have a keynote and a panel discussion related to critical topics in QAI. In doing so, we hope to promote the exchange of QAI research ideas, build a collaborative platform for QAI research, forge a community of QAI researchers and outline a long-term research roadmap for QAI. We successfully organized the Applied Quantum Artificial Intelligence (AQAI) workshop at the IEEE Quantum Week 2020 and wish to do the same in 2021.
Keywords: Quantum Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Machine Learning, Quantum Computing, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning
Target Audience: The primary goal of this workshop is to foster discussions between domain scientists with large-scale applications and researchers that specialize in quantum computing. Through the proposed workshop, we wish to reach out to professionals in the following fields: quantum computing, quantum information, quantum engineering, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.
We expect our attendees to have an education background in computer science, physics, mathematics, electrical engineering or a related field. We believe that the audience of the proposed workshop will have a diverse set of backgrounds, and welcome all QAI researchers, practitioners and enthusiasts: including but not limited to scientists, professors, educators, postdoctoral researchers, PhD students, graduate students, undergraduate students, engineers, developers, entrepreneurs, newcomers etc. We hope to garner equal participation from academia, industry and government research organizations in highlighting recent research in the fields of quantum artificial intelligence, quantum machine learning and quantum algorithm design.

Wed, Oct 20 — Wks 12 — Engineering Challenges in Scaling from NISQ to Universal Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computers

Nizar Messaoudi: Keysight Technologies, Canada
Russell Lake: Bluefors Oy, Finland

Date: Wednesday, Oct 20, 2021
Time: 10:45-16:45 Mountain Time (MDT) — UTC-6
Abstract: Modern day quantum processors are beginning to demonstrate quantum advantage for some specific use cases. However, significant further progress is needed to achieve practical advantage in quantum computing. To this end, the focus remains squarely on rapidly and substantially scaling the size of quantum processors, with many leading cloud providers having announced that they will deploy quantum computers with more than one thousand qubits in the next five years. To achieve this important milestone, there are many engineering challenges that must be overcome. In superconducting and spin qubit architectures, the challenges begin in designing and fabricating large quantum processors. The next major topic will be the improvements in classical hardware (environment, control systems and cryogenic components) that are necessary to scale quantum processors. Finally, we will touch on the software required to characterize, validate and verify the performance of these quantum processors efficiently. This workshop will provide an overview of how these diverse challenges are being addressed by world leading experts from academia and industry and provide a roadmap for how to achieve the large fault-tolerant quantum processors that are required to solve today’s intractable problems.
Invited Speakers:
  • Matt Reagor: Rigetti Computing, USA
  • Will Oliver: MIT Lincoln Laboratory, USA
  • Jörgen Stenarson: Low Noise Factory, Sweden
  • Arsalan Pourkabirian: Low Noise Factory, Sweden
  • Russell Lake: Bluefors, Finland
  • Nizar Messaoudi: Keysight Technologies, Canada
  • Joseph Emerson: Keysight Technologies/IQC, Canada

 

Keywords: Quantum computing, Scalable quantum computation, Quantum control, Cryo-electronics
Target Audience: Practicing electrical engineers, microwave engineers seeking to learn enough about the intersection of quantum mechanics and engineering – quantum engineering – to fill the gap in the workforce. The expected background is basic microwave and electrical engineering at the bachelor’s level, with ideally at least an introductory quantum mechanics background or strong interest, and knowledge of linear algebra. Some knowledge of analogue and digital electronics, microwave hardware, and measurement science will be useful.

Wed, Oct 20 — Wks 13 — Integrating High-Performance Computing with Quantum Computing

Sven Karlsson: Technical University of Denmark
Laura Schulz: Leibniz Supercomputing Centre, Germany
Martin Schulz: Technical University of Munich, Germany

Date: Wednesday, Oct 20, 2021
Time: 10:45-16:45 Mountain Time (MDT) — UTC-6
Invited Speakers: 
  • Keynote: Anne Matsuura, Director of Quantum & Molecular Technologies, Intel Labs, USA
  • Kuan Tan, CTO & Co-Founder, IQM Finland Oy, Finland
  • Jeanette Lorenz, Fraunhofer-Institute for Cognitive Systems IKS, Germany
  • Albert Frisch, AQT, Austria
  • Mariam Kiran and Mekena Metcalf, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA
  • Fabio Baruffa and Torsten Bloth, Amazon Web Services (AWS), USA
  • Seyed Saadatmand, Quantum Brilliance, Australia
  • Scott Pakin, Senior Scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, USA
  • Panel Organizer: Mikael Johansson, CSC, Finland
Target Audience: The target audience is twofold – for one we are focusing on the broad communities in the area of both HPC and QC: from the HPC side, quantum computing has gained interest to overcome some the limitations of classic architectures, consequently also generating interest in integrating QC as acceleration into HPC environments; from the QC side, integration efforts are needed to scale QC devices, to make them available alongside major infrastructure, and to support larger workflows with pre- and postprocessing. Both make integration necessary. Additionally, the contributed component will allow authors to discuss state-of-the-art concepts of QC/HPC integration, also providing contents as well as a venue for more specialized discussions.
Abstract: Quantum computers come with the promise of a substantial increase in computational capabilities compared to classic computer architectures for a range of suitable problems. They, therefore, have to ability to make significant contributions to the field of High-Performance Computing (HPC). On the other hand, though, quantum computing alone cannot achieve this goal, as it requires current and future HPC systems to provide post- and pre-processing, to stage and control operations, to enable hybrid applications combining computational elements suited for quantum computing with such that are not, and to provide compute capabilities to optimize quantum computing systems. As a consequence, we need a close integration between the quantum computing and the current HPC ecosystems, to form a new integrated HPC/QC approach capable of bringing the combined computational abilities to a broad user base.
In this workshop, we aim at bringing together practitioners, theoreticians and users from both HPC, QC and the application disciplines, to understand the needs and requirements from both sides for such an integration, to report on and discuss innovative approaches and to build a long-term bridge between the involved communities. We will achieve this with a broad program anchored by several invited talks providing an introduction into the challenges as well as possible solutions, a contributed section with research results and position statements by the community and, finally, an open panel discussion allowing for community feedback and interaction.
Keywords: Quantum Computing, High-Performance Computing, Integration 

Date: Wednesday, Oct 20, 2021
Time: 10:45-16:45 Mountain Time (MDT) — UTC-6
Abstract: The field of spin-based quantum computation has advanced significantly over the last decade with recent demonstrations of small-scale single- and two-dimensional spin qubit arrays controllable with high fidelities. While the fabrication methodology of spin-qubit devices may seem compatible with standard semiconductor-based technologies, scaling up to large scale quantum processors entail significant challenges at both the device and control electronics layers, with extremely tight specifications in terms of gate lengths, routing signals and noise. Operating spin qubits at reasonably higher temperatures and placing them in the close proximity to their control electronics could offer significant advantages in terms of form factor reduction, cost and complexity, whereas potential trade-offs include smaller power dissipation constraints for electronics and larger qubit dephasing. This workshop brings together scientists and engineers to gain a systematic understanding for co-integrating spin qubits with their control electronics at identical temperatures. We invite eminent speakers spanning broad expertise from the two fields of spin-based quantum computation and cryo-electronic design to deliver short presentations and participate in panel discussions that align with our proposed topic. The workshop is thereby expected to encourage new collaborations between research groups working in both of these fields. We are confident that inputs from the workshop will gain significant insight into the advantages, drawbacks and methodology for narrowing down the temperature gap between spin-qubit devices and their control circuitry, and hence drive new research directions.
Invited Speakers:
  • Elena Blokhina, University College Dublin, Equal1.Labs, Ireland
  • Menno Veldhorst, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands
  • Lars Schreiber, RWTH Aachen University, Germany
  • Sushil Subramanian, Intel, USA David Awschalom, University of Chicago, USA
  • Andrew Dzurak, UNSW Sydney, Australia
  • Sorin Voinigescu, University of Toronto, Canada
Keywords:  Spin Qubits, Cryo-electronics, Co-integration of Control Electronics with Qubits System-Level Design
Target Audience: As the workshop is specifically focused at the co-integration of spin-qubits with control electronics, we anticipate significant interest from research groups having a broad expertise of system level, spin-based quantum computation and electronics design. Moreover, due to the engineering-oriented nature of the workshop, we expect several scientists from the industry to attend this workshop, in addition to academic researchers who may be interested in collaborating with the industry.

Tue, Oct 19 — Wks 10 — Remotely Programmable Quantum Sensing and Simulation

Hannah North: ColdQuanta, USA
Carrie Weidner: Aarhus University, Denmark
Brittany Mazin: ColdQuanta, USA

Date: Tuesday, Oct 19, 2021
Time: 10:45-16:45 Mountain Time (MDT) — UTC-6
Abstract: During this workshop we will explore the growing community of programmable quantum matter systems for sensing and simulation. Remote quantum matter (aka quantum gas) systems will enable and accelerate the education of the quantum workforce, high-impact research, and commercial product development. While the hardware discussed in this workshop is based on cold atoms, the topics of quantum control, remote systems, and quantum applications are hardware agnostic. Beginning with ColdQuanta’s Albert platform, attendees will experience the fundamental building blocks of quantum technologies: manipulate a wavefunction, interference of atoms, and the effects of other quantum phenomena. This workshop will include live demonstrations, and a discussion of applications of quantum matter including signal processing and inertial sensing. The second session will be led by Dr  Carrie Weidner of Aarhus University and focus on interfaces for remotely controllable systems. This session will cover elements of interface design for quantum systems intended for amateurs as well as experts. It will also cover the basics of quantum control for experimental optimization, illustrated with a quantum game. The third session will focus on advanced applications of remote access quantum gas experiments, including a sophisticated remotely programmable system for quantum simulation with Ytterbium atoms at the University of Kyoto. Dr. Yosuke Takasu will overview the system capabilities including the creation of quantum degenerate gases and exploration of many-body physics using Yb atoms in an optical lattice. This session will include a panel discussion of quantum simulation and the educational potential of remotely programmable quantum matter systems.
Keywords: Quantum sensing, Remotely programmable, Quantum technologies
Target Audience: Our abstract is academically focused, but the topics are of general interest. Attendee background: little to no quantum background. Basic interest in quantum technology and its applications. Portions may be catered to more specialized audiences.

Sun/Mon, Oct 17/18 — Wks 01 — Advanced Simulations of Quantum Computations — Parts 1 & 2

Yuri Alexeev: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), USA
Dmitry Liakh: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), USA
Adam Lyon: Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), USA
Salvatore Mandra: NASA Ames Research Center, USA
Alexander McCaskey: ORNL, USA
Thien Nguyen: ORNL, USA
Matthew Otten: HRL Laboratories, USA

Date: Sunday, Oct 17, 2021 — Part 1
Time: 10:45-15:15 Mountain Time (MDT) — UTC-6
Date: Monday, Oct 18, 2021 — Part 2
Time: 10:45-16:45 Mountain Time (MDT) — UTC-6
Abstract: As quantum computing hardware is steadily evolving towards the quantum advantage regime, classical simulation of quantum circuits is becoming more and more challenging, yet crucial for the verification and validation of the new hardware and algorithms. In recent years, we observed fast progress in new advanced techniques enabling more efficient simulations of rather large quantum circuits. Importantly, these techniques and algorithms were also able to take better advantage of modern classical high performance computing platforms based on the heterogeneous accelerated node architectures. This workshop will bring together participants from the national labs, academia, industry and open-source software community to share recent results in algorithms and software for large-scale quantum circuit simulations across a broad range of methods, covering state-vector, tensor network, graphical model, stabilizer, and pulse-level simulations. We seek to provide an open platform for state-of-the-art development efforts, exchanging ideas and best practices, and fostering research collaboration in an attempt to stimulate the formation of an inclusive research community focused around this topic.
Keywords: Quantum simulators, quantum simulations, tensor network simulators, state vector simulators
Target Audience: The workshop attendees are expected to be quantum simulator developers from the US and other countries. The level of experience of simulators will range from novice to experienced developers.

Thu, Oct 21 — Wks 15 — Ultra-low Power Electronics for Superconducting Quantum Processors

Anton Potocnik: imec, Belgium
Frank Wilhelm-Mauch: Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany

Date: Thursday, Oct 21, 2021
Time: 10:45-16:45 Mountain Time (MDT) — UTC-6
Abstract: Superconducting qubit technology is today one of the most promising platforms for development of large-scale quantum computers. It is estimated that millions of qubits are needed for building first fault-tolerant quantum computing platforms. While large-scale fabrication of superconducting qubits can rely on mature integrated-circuit technology, individual qubit control in deep cryogenic environment represents an unprecedented challenge. A promising approach to overcome this challenge is to develop ultra-low power control electronics and signal multiplexing at the qubit level, that do not elevate qubit temperature and with that do not reduce qubit operation fidelities. Such electronics would be imperative for solving the wiring problem in large-scale quantum computers, as well as provide classical computational power at the qubit level to support, for example quantum error correction or variational quantum eigensolvers. This workshop aims to consolidate the requirements for building ultra-low power electronics based on cryo-CMOS or Single Flux Quantum (SFQ) technologies for superconducting qubits. We invite scientists and engineers from various fields including large-scale quantum computation, cryo-CMOS, SFQ, and cryogenic engineering to deliver presentations and participate in a discussion on the proposed topic. We anticipate that the workshop will start a dialogue between experts from scientific and industry sectors and envision a roadmap towards the next generation ultra-low power electronics that enable control of fault-tolerant large-scale quantum computers.
 
Invited Speakers: 

  • David J Frank: IBM, USA
  • Will Oliver: MIT, USA
  • Christian K. Andersen, TU Delft, The Netherlands
  • Rüdiger Quay / Carsten Degenhardt: IAF Fraunhofer, IMTEK, Germany
  • Steven Brebels: imec, Belgium
  • Anna Herr, imec, Belgium
  • John Martinis: UCSB, USA

Keywords: Superconducting Qubits, Cryo-CMOS, Single-Flux Quantum (SFQ), Cryogenic Multiplexers, Qubit Control Electronics, Quantum Architecture Design, Cryogenic Engineering
Target Audience: The targeted audience includes experts from broad key areas presented in section II, form the field of scalable superconducting qubit technology, quantum computing architecture as well as cryo-CMOS electronics and superconducting electronics based on SFQ. We expect a large part of the audience to come from the industry sector, from startups that are planning to build future large-scale quantum computers as well as established companies that are looking for the entry point to the quantum computing field from a classical perspective. Finally, the workshop would be also interesting to early career researchers and students that are looking for promising future directions related to the quantum computing.

Thu, Oct 21 — Wks 17 — Developing the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm

Rebekah Herrman: University of Tennessee Knoxville, USA
Phillip Lotshaw: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA

Time: 10:45-16:45 Mountain Time (MDT) — UTC-6
Date: Thursday, Oct 21, 2021
Abstract: The quantum approximate optimization algorithm (QAOA) can approximately solve combinatorial optimization problems and has been suggested as an application for near-term quantum computers. Recently, a variety of quantum and classical techniques have been proposed to enhance QAOA, with a focus on solving the NP-hard MaxCut problem. The goal of this workshop is to highlight recent work developing QAOA and applying it to more diverse problems. The three session topics of this workshop are classical methods used to enhance QAOA, solving problems beyond MaxCut, and approaches to modifying the QAOA ansatz. Through these presentations and panel discussions, we hope to foster new research ideas and collaborations that can be used to shape future QAOA research.
Keywords: Quantum approximate optimization, Optimization, NISQ, QAOA, variational algorithms
Target Audience: The target audience for this workshop is scientists and engineers, particularly physicists and optimization experts, in graduate school, post-docs, and in the workforce. The attendees are expected to have a background in combinatorial optimization and/ or experience with QAOA, VQE, or other hybrid quantum-classical algorithms. The speakers are from universities, national labs, and industry, and so the target audience would include people from all of these backgrounds.

Thu, Oct 21 — Wks 18 — Quantum Computing for High-Energy Physics

Andrea Delgado: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), USA
Jean-Roch Vlimant: California Institute of Technology, USA
Sofia Vallecorsa: CERN, Switzerland

Date: Thursday, Oct 21, 2021
Time: 10:45-16:45 Mountain Time (MDT) — UTC-6
Abstract: High-energy physics (HEP) is the branch of physics that seeks to understand matter at the most fundamental level. To probe these interactions at the subatomic level, particle physicists rely on big-scale experiments such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. These experiments generate a massive amount of data that needs to be stored, processed, and analyzed, posing a challenge to conventional computing methods. In addition, simulation of these fundamental interactions is also an essential part of any particle physics analysis. Quantum computing (QC) holds the promise of speeding up some of the most computationally expensive tasks in HEP. Therefore, in the past years, there has been a proliferation of quantum algorithms applied to HEP data analysis and simulation. This workshop aims to advance state of the art on QC for data analysis and simulation in HEP by highlighting recent research on the utilization of near-term quantum processors and hybrid quantum-classical approaches. In doing so, we hope to promote the exchange of research ideas, build a collaborative platform for QC research, forge a community of QC and HEP researchers and outline a long-term research roadmap for QC applications to HEP.
Keywords: Quantum Machine Learning, Quantum Computing, High-Energy Physics, Particle Physics
Target Audience: The primary goal of this workshop is to foster discussions between domain scientists and researchers that specialize in quantum computing. Through the proposed workshop, we wish to reach out to professionals in the following fields: quantum computing, artificial intelligence, machine learning, high-energy and nuclear physics, and physical sciences. We expect our attendees to have an education background in computer science, physics, mathematics, electrical engineering or a related field. We believe that the audience of the proposed workshop will have a diverse set of backgrounds, and welcome all researchers, practitioners and QC enthusiasts: including but not limited to scientists, professors, educators, postdoctoral researchers, PhD students, graduate students, undergraduate students, engineers, developers, entrepreneurs, newcomers, etc.

Fri, Oct 22 — Wks 19 — Quantum Hardware Design and Analysis

Thomas McConkey, Zlatko Minev, Nicholas Bronn: IBM Quantum, USA​

Date: Friday, Oct 22, 2021
Time: 10:45-16:45 Mountain Time (MDT) — UTC-6
Invited Speakers: 
  • David DiVincenzo, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany
  • Andreas Wallraff, ETH Zürich, Switzerland
  • Jonas Bylander, Chalmers University, Sweden
  • Brian Rautio, Sonnet Software, USA
  • Kostas Nikellis, Ansys Inc., Greece
  • Chris Mueth, Keysight Technologies, USA
  • Davi Correia, Cadence Design Systems, USA
  • John P. DeVale, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, USA
  • Jens Koch, Northwestern University, USA
  • Marco Facchini, IBM, USA
  • Johannes Heinsoo, IQM, Finland
  • Boxi Li, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany
  • Yaniv Rosen, Lawrence Livermore National Lab, USA

 

Abstract: How do we streamline the design and analysis of innovative superconducting quantum processors? The need for the scaling of and the growing diversity of circuit architectures makes this a question of central importance. Good solutions will need to smoothly orchestrate expertise and tools from traditionally disparate worlds. The microwave circuitry composing superconducting quantum chips can be readily simulated in classical software, but additional quantum analysis is required in order to find the Hamiltonian used to fully model the dynamics of the system, a necessary step to properly tune the quantum device. For large systems, this can be a very time consuming and complex process, requiring numerous iterations of computationally large simulations and slow feedback loops. The goal of this workshop is to bring together the diverse collection of experts in academia, industry and government, from EDA specialists to microwave engineers to quantum physicists, required to answer that question. They will discuss the current state of the field, such as established best practices and the ecosystem of open-source and commercial software. Vendors will showcase their proposed solutions for improved design and simulation, discussing where advancements are still necessary. Finally, state-of-the-art open-source endeavors that have been proposed will be presented, focusing on the community driven development and where such tools have been successful. The field has a growing need to establish software tools to enable the fast and easy design and analysis of quantum chips; this workshop aims to provide a forum for the community to do so.
Keywords: Superconducting qubits, microwave circuits, simulation, Hamiltonian analysis, software tools, EDA
Target Audience: The target audience is software engineers, quantum physicists and electrical engineers with backgrounds in microwave engineering, VLSI design, or circuit simulation. We expect researchers from groups building superconducting qubits would join.

To ensure the workshop is known to historically under-represented groups in the industry, we will develop a social media campaign to get the word out about the workshop, including the Qiskit Twitter account and the Twitter/LinkedIn accounts of our design and Metal team leads, of invited participants, individuals giving talks during the workshop, and the organizers. We plan to have a post about the workshop on the Qiskit blog as well. Further, we will coordinate with IBM Quantum’s academic partner program lead to get the word out to the academic partners of the IBM Q Network, which is a rich source of people interested in this topic.
 

Fri, Oct 22 — Wks 20 — Progress and Challenges in Quantum Intermediate Representations

Alexander McCaskey: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), USA
Bettina Heim: Microsoft, USA
Yudong Cao: Zapata Computing, USA
Will Zeng: Unitary Fund, USA
Sarah Kaiser: Unitary Fund, USA

Date: Friday, Oct 22, 2021
Time: 10:45-16:45 Mountain Time (MDT) — UTC-6
Abstract: The proliferation of quantum computing system architectures and associated mechanisms for high-level programming has effectively introduced a stove-piped architecture that places a burden on programmers hoping to write quantum-classical applications that target a variety of quantum backends. Ultimately this is a compilation issue – how does one develop an efficient compilation approach that lowers any language representation to any quantum coprocessor architectural type? This problem arose in the classical computing world as well, and has been effectively solved through the introduction of a common intermediate representation (IR) (e.g. the LLVM) – an object model that language lowering methods can target with implementations provided for lowering the IR to available CPU instruction sets. Now researchers are seeking similar approaches for the introduction of a common quantum intermediate representation enabling a unified and cohesive software infrastructure for quantum-classical accelerated-node application development. We seek approaches that let quantum language compilers target a common IR layer that can be further lowered to any native backend architecture. The goal of this workshop is to provide a platform for discussing current state-of-the-art approaches to quantum intermediate representation development, expression, deployment, and utility. We will highlight recent approaches, future directions, and novel designs through a series of invited presentations on specific challenge topics from leaders in the field of quantum compilation and software. It is our hope that this workshop will spur collaboration and introduce the community to novel languages, compilers, and frameworks enabling a cohesive and unified software toolchain for quantum-classical computation.
Keywords: Quantum compilers, quantum languages, quantum computing 
Target Audience: This workshop targets developers and researchers in the field familiar with all parts of the quantum computing system architecture. Attendees will be familiar with the concept of intermediate representations (possibly have used or designed one) and some of the common challenges we face with current IR approaches. This will attract a good mix of participants as this is a pressing need in commercial applications and a solution that can help researchers do the experiments that they need to. Ultimately, we want our audience to consist of expertise in languages and compilers, quantum control systems, and hardware architectures. This diverse set of backgrounds will ensure we have the proper perspectives available to discuss current challenges, and will drive discussions on proposed, targeted solutions.

Date: Friday, Oct 22, 2021
Time: 10:45-16:45 Mountain Time (MDT) — UTC-6
Invited Speakers: 
  • Benjamin Sussman, National Research Council of Canada — Towards Quantum Sensing and Imaging: LIDAR and 3D Scene Reconstruction
  • Roman Schnabel, Universität of Hamburg, Germany — Squeezed Light – Now Exploited by all Gravitational-wave Observatories
  • Peter Mason, National Research Council of Canada, Canada  — Quantum Sensing at NRC
  • Alexey Gorshkov, University of Maryland, USA — Quantum Sensor Networks
  • Zheshen Zhang, University of Arizona, USA — Entanglement-Based Quantum Technologies
  • Saikat Guha, University of Arizona, USA — Quantum Enhancements in Photonic Sensing: An Overview
  • Warwik Bowen, University of Queensland, Australia — Absolute Quantum Advantage in Bioimaging
Abstract: Optical sensing plays a pivotal role as an independent domain of quantum engineering and is also the only domain of Quantum where supremacy has been already demonstrated in practical setting with practical speeds when compared to quantum computing and communication for example. In addition, quantum sensing also offers a promising route to ushering an alternative route to scalability in quantum computing through physically and logically connecting smaller quantum computing engines into larger fabrics while maintaining the quantum nature. This workshop will endeavour to highlight some of the fields most promising demonstrations and research directions to better connect the communities of Quantum Technologies and Quantum Computing.
Keywords: Photonic Sensing, Quantum Sensing, Quantum Engineering 
Target Audience: The workshop target audience includes quantum engineering practitioners from industry and research labs as well as leaders/pioneers in quantum sensing who utilize and develop quantum photonic sensors from around the world.

Date: Friday, Oct 22, 2021
Time: 10:45-16:45 Mountain Time (MDT) — UTC-6
Invited Speakers: 
  • Thomas Monz, University of Innsbruck, Austria
  • David Nadlinger, University of Oxford, UK
  • Karan Mehta ETH Zurich, Switzerland & Cornell University, USA
  • Shantanu Debnath, IonQ, USA
  • Craig Clark, Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), USA
  • Megan Ivory, Sandia National Labs, USA
  • Dan Lobser, Sandia National Labs, USA
  • John Gaebler, Honeywell Quantum Solutions, USA
  • Mike Biercuk, Q-CTRL/University of Sydney, Australia
  • Clayton Crocker, Keysight, USA
Abstract: Trapped-ion quantum technologies, including quantum computers, sensors, and clocks, are developing rapidly as researchers at universities, government labs, and companies work to advance system size and performance. In the case of trapped-ion quantum computers, current research endeavors to increase the number of qubits from less than ten ions to scales that could be an order of magnitude larger. Maintaining the fidelity of quantum operations while achieving such a scale-up requires both adapting existing cutting-edge technologies as well as creating new ones to serve the demanding performance requirements of trapped-ion quantum systems. In this workshop we will explore the research at these frontiers by focusing on three main areas: system calibration and automation, emerging technologies, and high-performance electronic control systems. System calibration and automation will include presentations from the leaders of large trapped-ion systems and will focus on the problems associated with multi-ion management and calibration that are not present at the one- and two-ion level. Emerging technologies will include presentations about technologies that are integrated closely with the traps (e.g. on-chip optics) or another part of the system in a novel way. Finally, high-performance electronic control systems will focus on the electronic co-design necessary for controlling a large trapped-ion system, including techniques for shuttling ions quickly and delivering coherent rf control signals. At the end of this workshop, participants will have a greater understanding of the challenges at the intersection of physics and engineering that face trapped-ion quantum systems, as well as their potential solutions.
Keywords: Quantum computing, ion trapping, quantum sensing, quantum metrology
Target Audience: 
We expect roughly 2/3 research and 1/3 industry participation, as the amount of industrial activity in ion trapping has grown rapidly over the last five years. The target audience for this workshop includes:
  • ion trapping experimental researchers, from students to senior researchers
  • electrical and software engineers interested in electronic control systems
  • quantum theorists interested in system characterization
  • physicists and engineers working on atomic clocks and quantum sensing using trapped ions
  • fabrication engineers interested in device fabrication and integration
  • entrepreneurs


Fri, Oct 22 — Wks 23 — Scalability of Quantum Computing Systems: Device-Architecture Crosslayer Co-design

Carmen Almudever: Technical University of Valencia, Spain
Eduard Alarcon: Technical University of Catalonia

Date: Friday, Oct 22, 2021
Time: 10:45-14:30 Mountain Time (MDT) — UTC-6  Two 90-mins sessions
Abstract: The field of quantum computing has experienced a remarkable progress in the last years with the development of intermediate-scale quantum processors. Despite its tremendous potential, it is still unclear how quantum computing systems will scale to satisfy the requirements of its most powerful applications. At the chip architectural level, quantum multi-core architectures are a firm candidate as an alternative to current single-core quantum devices to unlock the scalability of quantum processors. Nevertheless, scaling-up quantum computers requires improvements at all layers of the so called full-stack. Beyond stacking up the different layers, a crosslayer design and optimization is required. This particularly calls for a tight co-design among adjacent layers as well as vertical crosslayer design, therefore requiring researchers from multiple disciplines to collectively address the grand challenge of scalability. To this purpose, in this workshop we are bringing in experts from the different full-stack layers, namely (a) quantum devices, qubit control circuits and chip design, (b) architectural designs and algorithms (c) design methodology, design-oriented models, communications and previous approaches for scalability in conventional computing processors, so as to address the scalability challenges in a multidisciplinary and crosslayer approach.
Keywords: Scalability of quantum computing systems, Full-stack crosslayer co-design, Quantum processor design, Qubit control electronics, Quantum computer architecture, Quantum algorithms, Design-oriented models, Multi-core architectures, Quantum communication 
Target Audience: Given the all-encompassing character of this workshop, which addresses all layers of the full-stack of future quantum computers driven from the common perspective of scalability, the target audience potentially includes the complete technical breadth of quantum computing, with workshop attendees background inclusive of researchers in quantum device technology, cryogenic integrated circuits for control and readout, chip integration technologies, quantum computer architecture and quantum algorithms/applications. In addition, the workshop targets as well researchers in the field of networks-on-chip previously considered to scale many-core processors, and quantum communication experts with a focus on short-range communications, as well as experts in Design methodologies and EDA-oriented design tools willing to align to the incoming research needs of post-NISQ scalable quantum computers. Beyond the scope of expertise, the workshop tackles a common central need of both researchers from Academia and Industry, and will address research topics for both forefront researchers as well as guidelines for fertile areas of interest to young researchers, given its broad yet oriented scope.