Purdue University has joined the Chicago Quantum Exchange (CQE), a collaborative effort to advance quantum information science and engineering. The CQE, based at the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, includes nearly 50 partners and is one of the largest teams working on quantum information science globally. Purdue’s Quantum Science and Engineering Institute will be central to the membership. The university’s provost, Patrick Wolfe, sees this as an opportunity to amplify Purdue’s impact in the quantum realm. The CQE has attracted significant investment, including $280 million in federal funding and $200 million from the state of Illinois.
Purdue University Joins the Chicago Quantum Exchange
Purdue University has become the latest member of the Chicago Quantum Exchange (CQE), a collaborative initiative aimed at advancing quantum information science and engineering, building a future quantum workforce, and driving the nation’s quantum economy. The CQE, based at the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, is a hub of interdisciplinary research activity. It includes nearly 50 corporate, international, nonprofit, and regional partners, including the University of Chicago, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and Northwestern University.
Purdue’s membership in the CQE is centered around the Purdue Quantum Science and Engineering Institute (PQSEI), which brings together leading quantum researchers and leverages collaborations with industry, government, and academia to drive the discovery of quantum phenomena and the development of chip-scale quantum systems for future technology. The PQSEI consolidates the strengths of approximately 60 faculty affiliates and hundreds of other researchers in multiple departments across campus such as chemistry, computer science, electrical and computer engineering, mathematics, materials science, and physics.
The Impact of Purdue’s Membership in the CQE
Purdue’s membership in the CQE is seen as an opportunity to amplify the university’s impact in the quantum realm. By working together, Purdue and its peers within the CQE can accelerate their focus on developing quantum technologies that could revolutionize the way we communicate, compute, and sense the world around us. The agreement marks the seventh member for the CQE, which brings together institutions’ intellectual talents, research capabilities, and engineering capacities in one of the largest collaborative teams working on quantum information science in the world. With the addition of Purdue, the CQE community includes more than 210 researchers spanning a range of expertise in quantum information technology.
Purdue’s Role in Quantum Education and Workforce Development
Purdue University plays a significant role in the education and development of future quantum engineers and scientists. The university is a core member of the Quantum Science Center (QSC), one of five multidisciplinary National Quantum Information Science Research Centers supported by the U.S. Department of Energy. Purdue annually hosts the QSC’s Quantum Summer School on its West Lafayette campus. Alexandra Boltasseva, the Ron and Dotty Garvin Tonjes Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, serves as the workforce development lead for the QSC.
Purdue provides a significant curriculum, experiential learning opportunities, and outreach efforts to help develop the quantum workforce of the future. Together with colleagues across the CQE, Purdue’s efforts can ensure a skilled workforce capable of driving innovation, economic growth, and societal progress in the transformative field of quantum technologies.
Collaborative Research Efforts and Regional Impact
Workforce development and advancing research for the benefit of society are also at the heart of the PQSEI’s regional collaborative research efforts, such as the National Science Foundation-backed Center for Quantum Technologies (CQT). The Purdue-led effort joins the institution with Indiana University Bloomington, University of Notre Dame, and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis in developing novel quantum technologies to address significant industry challenges.
Purdue West Lafayette is also a founding member of the Midwest Quantum Collaboratory, which was launched in 2021 with research partners at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University. Through participation in the CQE, Purdue recognizes the opportunity to amplify collective impact, driving forward the frontiers of quantum science and engineering.
The CQE’s Role in Quantum Technology Development and Funding
The CQE has played a key role in fostering cross-sector partnerships at the center of the region’s growing strength in the field of quantum technologies. Its institutions have attracted significant investment, including $280 million in federal funding through the 2018 National Quantum Initiative Act. The state of Illinois has also invested $200 million in quantum research facilities, and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has proposed $500 million for quantum technologies in his FY 2025 budget. In addition, IBM and Google invested a combined $150 million last year in partnerships with the University of Chicago and the University of Tokyo to develop two separate plans to advance quantum computing.
In October, the Biden-Harris administration named the Chicago region an official U.S. Economic Development Administration Regional Innovation and Technology Hub for quantum technologies, a designation that opens the door to new federal funding and recognizes its growing strength to be at the center of the nation’s quantum economy. The region’s Bloch Quantum Tech Hub, a cross-sector coalition projected to drive $60 billion in economic impact by 2035, was one of 31 designees from 400 applications nationwide.
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