Vasic and Zhuang On Team to Design Quantum Internet

The University of Arizona will receive an initial, five-year, $26 million grant from the National Science Foundation, with an additional five-year $24.6 million option, to establish and lead a new National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center – called the Center for Quantum Networks – with core partners Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Yale University.

CQN aims to lay the foundations of the quantum internet, which will revolutionize how humankind computes, communicates and senses the world, by creating a fabric to connect quantum computers, data centers and gadgets using their native quantum information states of "quantum bits," or qubits. Qubits offer dramatic increases in processing capacity by not just having the 0 or 1 state of the classical bit, but also allowing what is termed a "superposition" of both states at the same time.

The team at the University of Arizona is led by the James C. Wyant College of Optical Sciences and includes the College of Engineering, the James E. Rogers College of Law and the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

A multifaceted team of UA researchers will develop the Center, including ECE professor Bane Vasic and ECE assistant professor Quntao Zhuang. 

"The University of Arizona has been fortunate to attract key talent in quantum optics, materials and information sciences," said UA President Robert C. Robbins. "It is rewarding to see our deep culture of collaboration across campus naturally position us to lead this extremely ambitious project in partnership with amazing institutions across the nation."

Read more at College of Engineering News.