The University of Illinois System will link the architects of the rapidly developing quantum technology hub in Chicago with one of Mexico’s leading quantum computing researchers during an Aug. 20 virtual event focused on accelerating cross-border innovation through partnership.
“Quantum Computing and Microelectronics Technology: Driving Innovation in Modern Industry” will be hosted by the U of I System’s Illinois Mexican and Mexican-American Students Initiative and will feature speakers from the system-managed Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, its private-sector partners and Mexico’s Tecnológico de Monterrey. The event is free and open to researchers, faculty, students, industry professionals and policymakers.
Through I-MMÁS, the U of I System already conducts extensive research and student exchange with a number of Mexican universities and government agencies. IQMP and state and city leaders are working to make Chicago a global destination for the quantum industry and innovators.
“I-MMÁS was built on the belief that when we connect students, researchers and institutions across the border, both countries are stronger for it,” said Elvira de Mejía, founder of I-MMÁS and its director of institutional relations-Mexico. “Quantum technology will shape the careers of the next generation of scientists and engineers in the United States and Mexico alike. This symposium is about making sure our students and our partners in Mexico are not just watching that future take shape but helping to build it.”
“IQMP centers around collaboration, bringing together research universities, industry partners and global quantum leaders to work toward a common goal: advancing and commercializing quantum computing and innovation,” said Harley Johnson, CEO of IQMP and a Founder Professor at the Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. “The I-MMÁS symposium reflects that same spirit of exploring beyond borders to push development forward. As Illinois prepares the future quantum workforce, we need partners like the researchers and students joining us from Mexico to help open pathways within this emerging field.”
The symposium will open with welcome remarks from Jay Walsh, vice president for economic development and innovation at the U of I System.
Event speakers will examine what quantum technology means for industry, for the workforce and for the next generation of scientists and engineers in the United States and Mexico, and how partnerships between universities and industry can accelerate technological innovation.
The speakers include Johnson; Jeremy O'Brien, co-founder and executive chairman of PsiQuantum, the company anchoring the IQMP campus; Heejeong Jeong, head of Quantum Computing U.S. at Pasqal USA Inc., which is establishing its U.S. headquarters at IQMP; Fernando Rojas Iñiguez, a researcher at the Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico; Isaac Hernández Calderón, professor of physics at the Center for Research and Advanced Studies, CINVESTAV – México; Guohua Sun, professor at the National Polytechnic Institute; Ambassador Reyna Torres Mendivil, consul general of Mexico; and Salvador Elías Venegas-Andraca, one of Mexico’s leading quantum computing researchers and an adjunct researcher at Tecnológico de Monterrey.
Speakers from the U of I System include de Mejía; Rashid Bashir, dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; Hei-Chi Chan, associate professor and mathematical sciences and philosophy department chairperson at the University of Illinois Springfield; and Can Bayram, professor and Intel Alumni Endowed Faculty Scholar in the department of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Learn more about the virtual symposium's agenda, speaker bios, and register for free here.
