Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy has become the first university in the world to house a quantum supercomputer.
Friday’s celebration at the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center unveiled the IBM Quantum System One.
The college says the $150 million investment has the potential to increase students’ and researchers’ capabilities and solve problems relating to health care, sustainability, artificial intelligence, and national security.
Quantum computers work by using quantum mechanics to process information and function as a scientific tool to explore problems.
The public-private partnership is aided by RPI graduate Curtis Priem, who co-founded global corporation NVIDIA— a graphic processor, mobile technology, and desktop computer manufacturer.
Priem says quantum is more promising than other advanced options.
“I’m not going to bet on AI,” Priem said. “Which feels like the dot com boom at this point; it’s like we have to have a different technology.”
RPI President Marty Schmidt says the technology will be the foundation of a new IBM Quantum Computational Center.
“This is RPI’s equivalent of skating to where the puck is going to be,” Schimdt said.
Schmidt says he expects a brief learning curve while trying to fully understand the capabilities of the computer.
“First, we need to determine what types of problems are best suited for a quantum computer,” Schmidt says. “We believe that application space is vast and will include fields like drug discovery, modeling and predicting new materials and financial risk modeling. But we need to explore these areas now. So that when we are ready for the higher-powered quantum computers, when they emerge, we can leverage that. But in addition, we need to integrate quantum computing into our curriculum, so that we are graduating students armed with the skills to utilize these powerful quantum computers in the future.”
Schmidt says the supercomputer should be online by January and cloud computing services are already available. The computer will be powered by a 127-qubit IBM Quantum Eagle processor that IBM says can perform “utility-scale calculations.” Schmidt explained how the computer works.
“The pulse tube cryocooler and the mixing chamber that brings the quantum processor to the operating temperature of 0.015 Kelvin, colder than the temperature of outer space,” Schmidt says. “Since molecular motion stops at zero Kelvin, the cold allows the qubits, which is the basic unit of information in a quantum system, to maintain their quantum state. Towards the bottom of the chandelier is the quantum processor chip which holds the qubits and performs the calculations.”
Schmidt, formerly provost of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says RPI has been a leader in new technology, paving a way for engineers, scientists, and inventors. Schmidt says RPI and the Capital Region are likely to become world-leading innovation hubs — a goal of state and federal leaders including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Democratic Congressman Paul Tonko, an engineer by training, appeared in a recorded video:
“The CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, which President Biden signed into law last summer, authorizes new investments in core quantum research programs that will encourage transformative and fundamental scientific discoveries,” Tonko said.
Earlier this year, RPI partnered with semiconductor giant Micron and 10 other universities in the United States and Japan to launch the University Partnership for Workforce Advancement and Research & Development in Semiconductors. The program is meant to build a skilled semiconductor workforce and drive research forward. Schmidt says new students will be attracted by partnerships like UPWARDS and advanced technology.
“I think the students that are like Curtis (Priem) that are going to come to RPI, because we have a quantum computer, and they’re going to go out and change the world with that knowledge. That's the real inspiration,” he said.
Senior vice president and director of IBM Research Darío Gil says quantum computing has benefits outside of a lab. Gil says putting the technology in the hands of those who can make quantum computing an actuality is key to the growth of the industry.
“To reach the next plane of what's possible, and to truly push quantum computing forward, we will need the expertise of our partners and the global community, including those in academia who are leading the research that has a presence into the obstacles and opportunities that may present in the future,” Gil said.
The IBM Quantum Computation Center will open in the spring. The computer will live in the Vorhees computer center— a former chapel— beneath stained-glass windows etched with the first four doctors of the Latin Christian church. Furthermore, the computer is to be added to the Curtis Priem Quantum Constellation, a center for collaborative research focused on hiring leaders to support the university’s research.
The RPI IBM agreement includes a promise to upgrade the system in 2026.
