Institute for Quantum Computing


The Institute for Quantum Computing is an affiliate scientific research institute of the University of Waterloo located in Waterloo, Ontario with a multidisciplinary approach to the field of quantum information processing. IQC was founded in 2002 primarily through a donation made by Mike Lazaridis and his wife Ophelia whose substantial donations have continued over the years. The institute is now located in the Mike & Ophelia Lazaridis Quantum-Nano Centre and the Research Advancement Centre at the University of Waterloo.
It is led by founder and physicist, Raymond Laflamme with researchers based in 6 departments across 3 faculties at the University of Waterloo. In addition to theoretical and experimental research on quantum computing, IQC also hosts academic conferences and workshops, short courses for undergraduate and high school students, and scientific outreach events including open houses and tours for the public.

Mission

The IQC seeks to harness quantum mechanics to develop transformational technologies that will benefit society and become a new engine of economic development in the 21st century. It aims to develop and advance quantum information science and technology at the highest international level through the collaboration of computer scientists, engineers, mathematicians and physical scientists.
The institute's three strategic objectives have been stated as:
  1. To establish Waterloo as a world-class centre for research in quantum technologies and their applications.
  2. To become a magnet for highly qualified personnel in the field of quantum information.
  3. To establish IQC as the authoritative source of insight, analysis and commentary on quantum information.

    History

The Institute for Quantum Computing was officially created in 2002, sparked by Research In Motion co-founder Mike Lazaridis and then-president of the University of Waterloo, David Johnston, for research into quantum information. Since inception, Lazaridis has provided more than $100 million in private funding for IQC. The institute is a collaboration between academia, the private sector, and the federal and provincial governments. Raymond Laflamme is the founding executive director.
At its establishment, the institute was composed of only a handful of researchers from the Departments of Computer Science and Physics. Ten years later, there are more than 200 researchers across six departments within the Faculties of Science, Mathematics, and Engineering at the University of Waterloo.
In 2008, IQC moved into the Research Advancement Centre 1 in the University of Waterloo's Research & Technology Park. In 2010, research operations expanded into the adjacent building, Research Advancement Centre 2.
In 2012, IQC expanded into the Mike & Ophelia Lazaridis Quantum-Nano Centre. The 285,000-square-foot facility is shared with the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, and is built to stringent standards for quantum and nanotechnology experiments. The building was designed by Toronto-based firm Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects.

Research

Research at IQC focuses on three main applications of quantum information science and technology using the physical sciences, mathematics and engineering from both theoretical and experimental perspectives. The three applications are quantum computing, which encompasses the manipulation and storage of quantum information; quantum communication, which is related to the transmission of quantum information; and quantum sensing, which is used to detect signals or stimuli that are present in the nanoscopic world.
Areas of research currently studied at IQC include:
In collaboration with the University of Waterloo, IQC offers research positions and advanced courses in the foundations, applications, and implementation of quantum information processing for graduate students. In addition, IQC also offers an interdisciplinary graduate program in Quantum Information which leads to MMath, MSc, MASc, and PhD degrees.

Research Breakthroughs

IQC researchers have frequently made novel theoretical discoveries or performed novel experiments within their respective fields.

2019

IQC's scientific outreach activities include annual workshops, short courses, public lectures, tours, open houses and science centre and museum exhibits. IQC shares many of these special events, including lectures and special interviews, with the online public through its , , and .

Science centre and museum exhibits

QUANTUM: The Exhibition

QUANTUM: The Exhibition is the first-ever travelling show on quantum information science and technology. Throughout 2017, visitors to science centres and museums across the country can explore how researchers are merging quantum mechanics and information technology to create the technologies that will revolutionize and redefine the 21st century—and how many Canadian researchers are leading the way. This exhibition was selected as part of the Signature Initiative of the Government of Canada's sesquicentennial celebration, INNOVATION150, which celebrates 150 years of Canadian innovation.
The Exhibition began its cross-Canada tour with an invitation-only premiere on October 13, 2016 at THEMUSEUM in downtown Kitchener, Ontario, and will continue on to at least five other cities on its journey including Vancouver, Saskatoon, Calgary, Halifax and Ottawa.

LIGHT Illuminated

The United Nations General Assembly named 2015 as the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies. In order to celebrate and educate the public on the physics of light, a group of graduate students from the University of Waterloo Student Chapter of the Optical Society created LIGHT Illuminated, an exhibition featured at THEMUSEUM in downtown Kitchener, Ontario, from October 2015 to March 2016. PhD students from the Institute for Quantum Computing along with a Master’s student from the University of Waterloo Department of Physics and Astronomy created and curated the exhibition. Over 40,000 visitors passed through THEMUSEUM during the exhibit’s display.

Conferences and workshops

IQC has played host to many notable conferences and workshops including:
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IQC has presented public lectures by notable researchers including David Cory, Joseph Emerson, Raymond Laflamme, Michele Mosca and Bill Unruh.

USEQIP

The Undergraduate School on Experimental Quantum Information Processing is an annual two-week program held in May and June designed for undergraduate students completing the third year of their undergraduate education. The program aims to introduce 20 students to the field of quantum information processing through lectures on quantum information theory and experimental approaches to quantum devices, followed by hands-on exploration using the experimental facilities of IQC.

QCSYS

The Quantum Cryptography School for Young Students is an annual one-week summer program for 40 high school students aged 15 and older. The program is run by IQC in conjunction with the University of Waterloo. The selected students attend specialized lectures on quantum physics and cryptography, visit local research institutes, meet renowned researchers in these fields, and take a tour of quantum computing and quantum cryptography experiments.

Facilities

IQC currently has offices and laboratories in both Research Advancement Centre I and II, located in the University of Waterloo’s .
On 9 June 2008, Mike and Ophelia Lazaridis, together with Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, University of Waterloo President David Johnston, and other guests officially broke ground on the project which will consist of three areas: one to house IQC, one for the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, and a clean fabrication and metrology suite to be shared between the two institutes. It will house offices, laboratory space, and areas for collaboration among researchers. The QNC opened September 21, 2012.

People

As of 2017, IQC’s research team consists of 27 faculty members, 2 research assistant professors, over 30 postdoctoral fellows, and more than 120 students. The institute has expressed intentions to expand to include 33 faculty members, 50 post-doctoral fellows, and 125 students.
IQC faculty members have appointments in the departments of Physics & Astronomy, Combinatorics & Optimization, Applied Mathematics, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Chemistry, and the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo. IQC faculty and postdoctoral fellows account for 10 of the 31 members of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research’s Quantum Information Processing Program. In addition, 3 faculty members have associate membership at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics and 11 are affiliate members.
Currently, 2 IQC faculty members hold Canada Research Chairs in various aspects of quantum information and 1 faculty member holds a Canada Excellence Research Chair.

Professors

The following major awards have been won by IQC researchers for significant contributions to their fields:
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellowship
American Physical Society
Canada Excellence Research Chair
Canada Research Chair
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee
Royal Society of Canada Fellowship
Polanyi Prize
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship