SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, has announced the program for its inaugural industry-focused SPIE Quantum West conference to be held March 6 to March 11, 2021. Organized in partnership with the Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C), Quantum West will be held online during the SPIE Photonics West Digital Forum.
Attendance at Quantum West is free to all registered participants of SPIE Photonics West, but registration is required.
The four sessions will provide a wide range of opportunities to learn more about the role of photonics in the development of quantum technology as quantum moves from research and development to engineering products for the commercial marketplace, while building mainstream infrastructures and supply chains. Speakers' topics include "Quantum Technology as an Enabler," "Photonics' Roles in Superconducting Quantum Computing," and "Building an Industry: Lessons Learned from a Half-Century of Growth in the Photonics Industry."
The four-day event, co-hosted by QED-C Deputy Director Celia Merzbacher and ColdQuanta Executive Chairman and DRS Daylight Solutions senior vice president Tim Day, will also include a market report from the Boston Consulting Group.
The international slate of speakers includes Imperial College London's Peter Knight, who is also a member of the U.K.'s Quantum Technology Strategic Advisory Board; Andrew Lord, who heads British Telecom's optical core, access and quantum research; Google Product Manager Eric Ostby; Toptica's co-founder and CTO Wilhelm G. Kaenders; Kaitlin R. Moore, a research physicist and principal investigator with SRI International; and Mercedes Gimeno-Segovia, senior director of quantum architecture at PsiQuantum.
A panel discussion on the final day featuring Toptica's Mark Tolbert, IBM's Jason Orcutt, Anchored In's Anke Lohman, and Hamamatsu's Klea Dhimitri, and moderated by Tim Day, will explore the future of photonics and quantum ("2021 and Beyond"), the challenges of developing a new market and how photonics will support that.
Source: SPIE