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How To Hack A Quantum Leap in 3 Months, And Beyond...

Shawn He Yuxun - Monday, April 28, 2025
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PNW at YQuantum 2025 (From left: Shawn, Ariel, Josh, Jesse; Ariel & Josh presenting)
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Dear QLeapers & Friends,

Did you know April 14 (4.14) is officially World Quantum Day? (Yes, I did also announce a while ago that 2025 is the International Year of Quantum! But please don't get the two confused :)

And every year, around this time, YQuantum—one of the largest and most respected student-run quantum hackathons in the US—happens at Yale. This year, YQuantum brought together 300+ students from 100+ schools across 25 countries, including 4 of our very own PNW QLeapers! In-person participants were 'networked' into 42 teams to tackle 9 challenges spanning quantum advancement and application.

TL;DR: Despite having limited prior quantum experience, Jesse Dance, a CS junior (and former Physics major!), joined a marvelous team called "Avengers" and took 3rd Place Overall for the Grand Prize!

\"JesseL: Jesse and teammates presenting; R: His Grand Prize Certificate

Fun Fact: Jesse was the first to sign up for our Weekly Quantum Computing Workshop this semester—a prelude to our new Intro to Quantum Computing course launching this fall. If just 3 months of workshopping led to Jesse’s 3rd-place finish at YQuantum, imagine where a full semester course could take you!!!

Wait...What? Math is too mind-bending, and physics too perplexing, You Said?

Fear not! The other new quantum course—Our Quantum Future—involves NO math or physics. Designed especially for non-STEM majors (think business, finance, policy) to prepare for careers that will be shaped by Quantum Information Science and Technology (QIST), which is pretty much the whole society.  

But Don't You Need A PhD?

"No," said pretty much all of 10 panelists at the Chicago Quantum Recruiting Forum held last Thursday at UChicago, representing companies from Fortune 500 giants to cutting-edge startups, "You do NOT need a PhD to launch a career in quantum tech!"

Their roles ranged from Business and Market Development to Scientific Research, from Software to Operations to Partnerships. The forum drew 100s of students—including a small PNW contingent (yes, the usual suspects) and our friends from UW-Madison and Purdue West Lafayette (PWL)!

\"\"A small PNW contingent at Chicago Quantum Recruiting Forum @ UChicago


Speaking of PWL, if you missed this year's PQSEI Quantum Summer School, you may catch the recordings on their Youtube Channel. In fact, there will be another Quantum Summer School at PWL in mid-August if you are going to be around. Dubbed "Quantum Computing for Materials Science and Chemistry" (QC4MC), this NSF-funded 4-day pilot program is open to Indiana college undergraduate/graduate students and researchers in Materials Science, Chemistry and related areas. Limited travel support is available. Application deadline is May 31, 2025. Click here for more info and to apply.

Other Summer/Fall Plans

As if we had too much time on our hands this summer, a small group of us is also planning to meet periodically to strategize for future programs as well as to develop a project to work on in the fall (such as developing a quantum algorithm for financial portfolio design, who knows). Please drop me a note if interested.

Come fall, aside from the 2 new Quantum courses (flyers attached again for your easy reference), IEEE Quantum Week 2025 (Albuquerque, NM, 8/31-9/5) may be another major happening that should be on your radar screen. I'll likely be there helping chair sessions in the Quantum Machine Learning (QML) track and will be excited to report back afterwards.

Last But Not Least...

We will meet one last time this Friday to celebrate everything we've accomplished, no matter how small—A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Even quantum leaps are made one step at a time. (First part ancient wisdom, second part mine!)

\"QLeapersQLeapers leaping to new heights over some 'high tea'

Thanks for being part of this amazing journey. The future is unfolding in front us—and we’re lucky to be collapsing its wave-function together.

Entangledly Yours,
Shawn

\"\"Credit: Our stunning new logo was created by Zane Winders (a Cybersecurity freshman) who was formerly a professional ballet dancer. If you were to create this artwork of wonder using AI, the following prompts may be necessary: The Rite of Spring (ballet by Igor Stravinsky), Black Hole, Electron Clouds in a Hydrogen Atom, Universal Symbol for a Quantum State...   

 

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