QuantumCuse, a new student-led club at Syracuse University is working on developing the quantum workforce of the future. It is hosted by the Blackstone LaunchPad and meets Wednesday evenings in the LaunchPad.
Fundi Juriasi ‘24, a junior majoring in Engineering and Computer Science at Syracuse University, is the co-founder of the group. For him, the world revolves around technology. He grew up in Syracuse and went to school that was tech focused. So, from the start he has been a huge fan to technology and computers.
Remember those old computers that used to fill up a whole room? 1,800 square feet to be exact? That was the start of a technological revolution that advanced the world as we know it. In 1946, a computer called the ENIAC was invented. The computer worked by input and outputs, simple computations. But to do so, a massive room was required, because the computer weighed in at 50 tons. Now, we have computers in our pockets that are a million times more capable than the ENIAC.
That massive computer was the start of computing, but what if computing could be broken down further? This is where quantum computing steps in. Innately, quantum is the smallest discrete unit of a phenomenon. Right now, the traditional, over the shelf computer works in binary, which is a combination of ones and zeros. A quantum computer however works with quantum phenomena of superposition and entanglement and is 158 million times faster than the most efficient supercomputer in the world.
So, what is the big deal? Why does quantum matter?
At its current stage, quantum computing can be done on a small chip, but this is very unstable and can’t be commercialized yet. As Juriasi explains, “even though it is a small chip, it takes a lot of things to make it run on a quantum level. It has to be in a laboratory, with perfect conditions and as few outside factors as possible. It has to be in a very controlled environment for it to be somewhat stable.”
It is like we are in 1946 again, but instead of computers that fill an entire room, this time it is quantum computing, Juriasi believes that quantum computing will be readily and commercially available in a few decades. One day, you’ll have quantum in your very own cloud too.
QuantumCuse, a club on campus here, deals with everything quantum. Iit is trying to raise awareness for quantum by hosting guest speakers. There are competitive events called hackathons where you can put your computing wits to the test. And the great thing about this club, as Juriasi explains, is that you don’t need any experience in quantum. Just the mindset to soak it all in.