The University of Missouri recently announced its establishment of an IBM Quantum Innovation Center, the first of its kind in the state. This center has the ability to provide researchers with computing power that can handle problems normal computers can’t.
Professor Chi-Ren Shyu is a professor of electrical engineering and the director of the MU Institute for Data Science and Informatics. He says that quantum computing is a good opportunity for the university.
“We are building quantum community and also bringing quantum to our education and training for our students,” Shyu said.
Shyu says the technology is in an early stage, but it’s already been used in areas like drug research.
“So that provides the power to deal with something very complex, something you might use your lifetime to solve. But with quantum computer, it’s going to give you - could be in hours - it can solve the problem,” Shyu said.
Some faculty members have already been chosen to begin using the technology, the university said in a report.
“Engineering researchers will use quantum computing power to study topics such as quantum programming, and semiconductors,” the report said. “Researchers from the College of Arts and Science will leverage the IBM partnership to study condensed matter and advance work in computational biophysics.”
Quantum computing is still being developed, but the report says that they could one day surpass “even the most powerful supercomputers.”
Though quantum computers won’t take the place of regular computers, they can help in certain areas.
