Microsoft Invests in Quantum Computing Lab at TU Delft
The company aims to build a revolutionary quantum computer
Microsoft has announced it will partner with quantum computing lab QuTech, a collaboration between Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) and the Netherlands Organization for applied scientific research (TNO), to set up a Dutch department for research on quantum computers. The project will double Microsoft’s investment in quantum research.
Commitment to Collaboration
Microsoft’s investment will begin a ten year partnership with QuTech. The company will set up its own lab on the TU Delft campus. Professor Leo Kouwenhoven, the founder of QuTech, has collaborated with Microsoft for many years and will run the new lab.
“I think we’re at an inflection point in which we are ready to go from research to engineering,” said Todd Holmdahl, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft’s quantum computing program. By partnering with QuTech, Microsoft will have access to advanced engineering capabilities.
“When QuTech was established we always intended to build a quantum ecosystem,” said Professor Ronald Hanso, who will replace Kouwenhoven as Interim Scientific Director of QuTech. Hanso believes the partnership with Microsoft is the first step.
Computing of the Future
Both Microsoft and QuTech have committed to building a scalable quantum computer. Quantum computers use complicated algorithms to perform much faster than normal computers. Microsoft hopes the new lab will create a “quantum economy” that would benefit industries like medicine and material science. Experts believe quantum computers could also help solve problems like climate change.
The Dutch government, which previously named the lab a national icon, invested more than $140 million into QuTech last year, in addition to a $50 million investment from American multinational Intel.
20 November 2016