QCi Welcomes CUNY Students on a QUEST for a Quantum Future

For many of us, summer is a time to take a dip in the pool, but for a select group of students from the New York City College of Technology (CityTech), it’s going to be a chance to dip their toes into the quantum future. CityTech, a college in the City University of New York (CUNY), has coordinated the QUEST for a Quantum Future program, in which students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in STEM learn more about semiconductors and quantum technology through a series of workshops and hands-on internships at partner companies. 

QCi COO Dr. Milan Begliarbekov has been involved in the development of this effort to help students develop the problem solving and critical thinking skills necessary for a career in advanced technology. This year’s inaugural cohort of interns from CUNY represents ten years of development in collaboration with CUNY educators and other industry partners, and is an exciting opportunity for QCi to engage with the community at large.

As quantum technology moves into a more industrial space, companies are anticipating the need for a robust and diverse workforce with the skills to work at all levels of their organization. Traditionally, “quantum scientists” are PhDs who work in laboratory environments, but an industrialized quantum ecosystem will require technicians at all levels of education. In order to have access to this necessary workforce, companies like QCi are partnering with educational and other advocacy organizations to make sure students are both aware of the opportunities in advanced technology, as well as proficient in the skills that will make them successful in these jobs.

At the same time, traditionally, undergraduate laboratory courses focus on reinforcing concepts from lectures, providing students with the opportunity to only reproduce classic and well-known experiments, rather than encouraging the kind of exploration and discovery that happens in technology innovation. As part of the QUEST for a Quantum Future Program, Dr. Begliarbekov and his colleagues have designed laboratory courses that encourage students to fail, investigate their failures, and try again based on their own exploration of the project.

These are the students who are joining QCi for the summer – students who have learned how to pursue innovative and self-motivated solutions to the problems presented to them. This mix of physics, engineering, and computer science majors are working directly with the scientists who develop and test QCi’s products, giving them a look into what it takes to innovate quantum technology on an industrial level.

Learn More:

CityTech QUEST for a Quantum Future https://www.citytech.cuny.edu/quest/