Engineering the Summer: Advancing quantum computing with IBM

Engineering the Summer is an annual series following UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering students as they embark on summer internships and career experiences.

The quantum revolution is already changing everything from computing and telecommunications to healthcare and cryptography. 

But for University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering quantum PhD student Antoine Brillant, the most exciting part is not what has already happened, but what’s coming next. 

“A few very powerful quantum algorithms already exist, but I like to think that the best applications have not yet been discovered,” Brillant said.

The fourth-year student in the Clerk Group spent the summer helping bring that future closer through an internship with IBM’s quantum demonstration and capabilities team in Yorktown Heights.

Brillant shared his experience for UChicago PME’s Engineering the Summer series:

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What has been your experience so far this summer at your internship? 

My experience has been great so far. I am working on the quantum demonstration and capabilities team. I have been working on finding techniques to efficiently mitigate noise on IBM quantum devices. My team is very interested in similar questions as I am, which allowed for engaging discussion. That has been great. 

How does your internship connect with your field of study at UChicago PME? 

The work that I have been doing this summer can be seen as a practical application of questions and results that I have been working on during my PhD. I see my internship as a direct continuation of my PhD work and as a perfect occasion to directly learn about practical considerations that come with the implementation of my results. 

What role do you hope to play in the future of quantum computing?

I think that large-scale fault tolerant quantum computations will be possible by the end of the decade – with IBM Starling – and continue to improve over the next 10 to 20 years. It is still unclear what the wider impact on the world of these quantum computers will have, but we know they have the potential to change many areas of modern life. I hope in my career to bring solutions and ideas to the many challenges that will come with the development of fault-tolerant quantum computers.

• Learn more about how UChicago PME’s Chicago Quantum Institute advances quantum research