Normally, quantum events are impossible to observe without altering their outcome.
That’s not the case with the growing number of events surrounding quantum technology in Connecticut. As efforts ramp up to build a national hub for quantum-related jobs, research, products, and services, there is plenty to see.
On Sept. 26, state officials selected New Haven as Connecticut’s first “Innovation Cluster,” a $50.5 million investment that will support a range of new infrastructure and resources for the quantum and biotech sectors — centered, in part, around the expertise of Connecticut’s research universities, including Yale.
“I just think we’re at one of those inflection points where there’s so much opportunity,” Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont said at a press conference at 101 College Street announcing the new funding. He was surrounded by a host of state and local officials, as well as prominent leaders from industry and academia.
Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont
Connecticut has the ability to focus its research prowess, manufacturing capacity, and workforce capabilities in ways that are superior to other parts of the nation, the governor said. That is why now is the time to lay the groundwork for quantum technologies and jobs to come.
“Quantum is an ‘over-the-horizon’ technology,” said Daniel O’Keefe, Connecticut’s commissioner of economic development and the state’s chief innovation officer. He called the combination of quantum, biotech, and artificial intelligence technologies a “Silicon Valley-like moment” for Connecticut.
Quantum technologies are expected to influence hundreds of products and services, including smartphones, navigation systems, advanced computers, drug development, and sensors, as well as many of Connecticut’s key manufacturing, energy, finance, and infrastructure industries.
The new state funding, which will roll out in different time frames in the coming months, is a set of individual awards aimed at accelerating quantum and biotech in the region.
The awards include a $10 million award to QuantumCT (a coalition of academic, public, and private entities across the state co-led by Yale and the University of Connecticut (UConn)); funding to the City of New Haven and developer Winstanley Enterprises to redevelop streetscape infrastructure for an “innovation district” anchored at 100 College, 101 College, and a third building planned for east of 101 College; $3 million in program funding for BioCT (a network of 300 life sciences companies); and $4.2 million to support a promenade that will extend from Union Station in New Haven into the city’s downtown.
“This $50.5 million is going to be a catalyst for us,” said New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker, also noting that QuantumCT, a Connecticut nonprofit led by University of Connecticut (UConn) and Yale, is also a finalist for a federal innovation grant would add significantly more funding for a quantum tech ecosystem in the state.
“Innovation requires a number of things,” Elicker said. “A good idea, people, products and partnerships, and the conditions and place to make it happen.”
New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker
Indeed, the state funding announcement comes on the heels of news that QuantumCT has been named as one of 15 finalists to become a regional technology hub by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The winning proposals will receive an initial two-year NSF grant of up to $15 million and will be eligible for funding for an additional eight years, for a total maximum award of $160 million over 10 years.
In 2023, NSF awarded UConn and Yale a $1 million planning grant for a “QuantumCT Regional Innovation Engine” proposal. Since then, the effort has drawn support from dozens of key leaders in business, labor, government, and academia.
They have worked on four main areas of creating a quantum “ecosystem” in Connecticut: identifying industry partners that would be a good match for emerging quantum tech; developing an “invention-to-impact” model for quantum discoveries that includes seed grants and incubator space for new start-up companies; creating a job training system for workers who would produce quantum products; and designing an “innovation engine” entity to lead the overall effort.
“We seek to ensure Connecticut doesn’t just benefit — but leads — the coming quantum revolution,” said Michael Crair, Yale’s vice provost for research.
From left, Yale’s Vice Provost for Research Michael Crair and Pamir Alpay, UConn’s vice president for research, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
Yale leaders involved in the effort include Crair; Richard Jacob, associate vice president for federal and state relations; Josh Geballe, managing director of Yale Ventures (a university initiative that supports innovation and entrepreneurship); faculty members Charles Ahn, Victor Batista, Yongshan Ding, Steven Girvin, Charalampos Papamanthou, Michael Hatridge and Robert Schoelkopf among others; and Jeffrey Brock, dean of Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science.
The university’s involvement in quantum-related technologies reaches back more than two decades Yale has conducted groundbreaking work on the development of superconducting qubits — “bits” of quantum data — and private companies worldwide have incorporated Yale quantum computing discoveries into their own products and research. The Yale Quantum Institute, founded in 2014, advances leadership in quantum science and technology by convening experimental and theoretical researchers across disciplines and connecting them with leading voices worldwide through programs and events.
Yale’s quantum work continues apace, including ongoing construction for a planned Physical Sciences and Engineering Building (PSEB) on campus, which will gather faculty around quantum computing, quantum engineering, and materials science.
