Economic Development Administration awards Elevate Quantum New Mexico hubs with $40.5 million

Albuquerque higher education institutions are at the center of a massive federal investment in quantum science and other technologies.

The U.S. Economic Development Association recently announced over $504 million in grants to 12 tech hubs across the country, including the Elevate Quantum Tech Hub, a partnership between Colorado and New Mexico that will focus on quantum information technology.

The University of New Mexico, Central New Mexico Community College, Sandia National Laboratories and Los Alamos National Laboratory are all part of Elevate Quantum.

What CNM will do with funding

According to Brian Rashap, instructor at CNM Ingenuity, the school will use its $4.7 million portion of the funding to focus on workforce development and education in the quantum technology industry by providing quantum work spaces and training.

“There are really two parts to that effort,” Rashap said. “The first part of the effort is to build out what we are calling the Quantum Learning Lab, and that’s in partnership with Sandia National Labs. That’s going to be essentially a training facility located at CNM Fuse Makerspace, which is in Downtown Albuquerque, and it is going to be our primary space for doing workforce development.”.

The Quantum Learning Lab space will provide hands-on space in the quantum field. Students, entrepreneurs and researchers will have the space and the equipment to work on quantum-related projects.

In the future, CNM plans to use the space to provide a quantum technician bootcamp. The goal is to create a program in which participants will train in the quantum field.

“We envision it to be 10-week full time training that requires no prior knowledge of math or science,” Rashap said. “It’s intended to really be accessible to New Mexicans, regardless of their background, educational background or economic backgrounds.”

The intent is to create a workforce built around quantum technology to keep industry workers in New Mexico.

What is quantum?

Quantum information technology is advanced tech that processes information using quantum mechanic principles. Quant um computing, for example, can process multiple forms of information at the same time, going through all combinations and providing the best results. Where current technology functions on a binary system called bits, quantum technology uses qubit, which can be considered the three dimensional format of bits.

What will UNM do with the funding?

According to Dave Hanson, assistant vice president of research at UNM, the $5.7 million dollars the university received will be a big step in continuing research of quantum.

”The first thing we’re building is what’s called a clean room space with a packing facility to put together quantum components,” Hanson said. “That’s what our industry partners don’t have enough access to.”

Hanson believes quantum technology is the economic boom New Mexico needs to bring in more workers and funding.

”It’s all to grow the industry partnership,” he said. “That’s what is missing in our economic ecosystem. The growth in quantum is a lot. It’s hard to overstate how much it will influence the next generation.”

The funding was a win for researchers across the state trying to get dollars for research advancements. According to Hanson, it’s the first big win they have had and is the turning point toward the future.

”We’ve been trying to get a big win like this for a long time and we got this win because we’re all working together,” Hanson said. “It’s a critical seed and we will not miss the wave of opportunity.”