As the executive director of the Quantum Economic Development Consortium, Merzbacher plays a pivotal role in moving the quantum ecosystem forward.
Called for by the National Quantum Initiative Act in 2018, the Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C®) was created in 2019 with support from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Managed by SRI, the industry consortium empowers its members and fosters collaboration among businesses, research institutions, and government agencies. QED-C is the trusted voice of the quantum industry and a source of data-driven information that informs policy makers and public and private investors.
Celia Merzbacher first became involved with the QED-C effort in 2019 and accepted the role of QED-C executive director in 2021. From that vantage point, she’s had a truly unique view of the emerging quantum industry.
Here, she explains why governments and businesses should pay close attention to quantum technologies, unpacks the significance of recent advances in applied quantum, and emphasizes the need for continued collaboration between industry, government, and research institutions.
What convinced you to join this concerted effort to grow the quantum industry and supply chain?
Largely because I’d seen how multidisciplinary public-private collaboration had accelerated two related technologies and saw a big opportunity to do the same thing with quantum.
I was working on nanomaterials research for the U.S. Navy when the National Nanotechnology Initiative was getting started. I was assigned on a government detail to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, where I helped establish and coordinate this multidisciplinary, multi-agency initiative. I experienced firsthand how a meaningful push from government could accelerate both emerging science and applied technologies.
“I knew that achieving the full potential of quantum would require building some bridges between the private sector and these government-funded programs.” — Celia Merzbacher
Later, I left government and went to the Semiconductor Research Corporation, an industry consortium for the semiconductor industry. It was an unusual and fascinating example of competitors coming together to solve common problems.
So when I saw that SRI had been selected to establish this new quantum consortium, I was immediately drawn to the idea. I understood how powerful it could be for a community of stakeholders from government, academia, and industry to come together to solve problems at the leading edge of an emerging technology.
The federal government was about to make a big investment in quantum information science. At the same time, a number of companies were embarking on the quest to build real-world quantum computers and other applications. I knew that achieving the full potential of quantum would require building some bridges between the private sector and these government-funded programs.
Also, it didn’t hurt that my father was a quantum physicist. He actually wrote a textbook on the subject. And while he passed away a number of years ago, it’s sort of in my DNA to be working in this field.
When you find yourself in conversations with people who know next to nothing about quantum, what’s your basic “elevator pitch” for quantum science and the quantum industry?
First, you don’t have to be a “quantum physicist” to appreciate quantum technology. It’s enough to know that quantum mechanics describes the behavior of matter at very small scales, where properties are different from our macro world. While quantum physics has been a field of study for more than 100 years, dating back to Einstein’s era, the ability in the past couple of decades to measure and manipulate matter at the nanoscale is allowing researchers to harness quantum properties for computing, sensing, and communication applications.
“Quantum phenomena can seem strange, but they’re not unnatural, and we can now build tools that help us better understand these natural processes, natural materials, and natural behaviors.” — Celia Merzbacher
It’s useful to understand that no one expects quantum computing to completely replace classical computing. We’re excited about quantum computing because it will enable new ways of approaching computationally difficult problems. And it will likely be combined with CPUs and GPUs to make new types of high-performance computers that combine quantum computing with AI and other applications that lead to entirely new capabilities.
As Richard Feynman pointed out, the world is naturally quantum. If you want to understand it, you should use a quantum-based machine. Quantum phenomena can seem strange, but they’re not unnatural, and we can now build tools that help us better understand these natural processes, natural materials, and natural behaviors.
How is this quantum revolution going to help us do things that we couldn’t do before?
Most people have heard of quantum computing, which takes advantage of the ability to store and manipulate information using “qubits” instead of binary transistors. We are still in the early stage of developing algorithms that will run on a quantum computer. There are relatively simple algorithms that are not commercially useful but that suggest quantum computers will be useful for certain types of computationally hard problems. For example, a sufficiently powerful quantum computer could be used to design new battery materials, new drugs, or new catalysts for the chemical industry. Optimization is important in areas like logistics, transportation, managing the electric grid, and countless other areas. There are levels of complexity in the world that are still hard to understand with our current computing paradigms. And quantum may be much better at managing those kinds of systems.
“In one way or another, these [quantum] capabilities could touch almost every part of our lives.” — Celia Merzbacher
Then there’s quantum for sensing. It turns out that quantum states are extremely sensitive to their environment, and that’s the very definition of a good sensor. There are quantum sensors that can measure electrical fields, magnetic fields, or gravity with much greater sensitivity. For example, we now have sensors — and SRI has been working on some of them — that can provide a backup to GPS. If GPS is jammed or you’re not able to access the global positioning satellite system, there are strategies using quantum atomic clocks or quantum magnetometers to allow navigation even without GPS, which is important for national defense but may also spill over into applications like driverless car navigation.
And finally, there’s the idea of being able to transmit quantum information. That falls into the category of quantum communication and quantum networking. Quantum networks will be useful for connecting quantum computers and quantum sensors and also for secure communication.
In one way or another, these capabilities could touch almost every part of our lives.
As you mentioned, one big piece of the QED-C effort is coordinating public and private efforts. Why is public-private collaboration so important for an emerging field like quantum technology?
We tend to think of science and technology evolution in a very linear way. Fundamental basic research, often in universities with government funding, leads to more applied research and development by engineers in mission-oriented government labs, research institutes like SRI, or industrial research organizations, followed by prototyping and demonstrations. If successful, it gets handed off to the private sector to commercialize and manufacture. It’s a revenue-producing industry at that point.
“[P]ublic-private partnership is critical to move as quickly as possible. Without it, things would still progress, but not as quickly.” — Celia Merzbacher
It’s easy to think about it that way, and sometimes it does work that way, but often it’s more iterative and complicated, with companies, government, and academic institutions all simultaneously working on both basic science and more applied work.
When Congress created QED-C, for example, there was a plan to substantially increase the basic research investment, but to do so in light of the needs of those who are developing applications. Right now, public investment is helping to advance knowledge and to educate the quantum workforce. Government can also accelerate the pace of innovation by helping to de-risk the emerging technology and closing the gap between the laboratory and the market. The federal government can also be an early customer in some of these areas, helping to fuel development before the commercial market is fully established.
So public-private partnership is critical to move as quickly as possible. Without it, things would still progress, but not as quickly.
Learn more about how SRI is advancing the future of quantum.
