Over two days in June, 29 graduate students, faculty members, and administrators from minority-serving institutions gathered at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory. They participated in the Faculty Outreach for Quantum-Invested UniversitieS (FOQUS) program, co-hosted by the Co-design Center for Quantum Advantage (C2QA) and Brookhaven Lab’s Office of Educational Programs.
The event aimed to connect participants with researchers and explore potential collaborations. Kimberly McGuire, C2QA chief operations officer, stated, “We developed FOQUS to build relationships with the program participants and researchers from Brookhaven and the five National QIS Research Centers.” She added that the program's success was beyond expectations.
The FOQUS program included tours of facilities such as the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II) and the Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN), both supporting quantum research. James Misewich, associate laboratory director for Energy and Photon Sciences at Brookhaven, encouraged participants to utilize these facilities: “We want you to come back to Brookhaven and use the instruments at NSLS-II and CFN.”
Participants also learned about software development for quantum computers. Misewich explained that scientists are working on algorithms that could make quantum computers outperform classical ones.
Additionally, attendees met with researchers from various departments at Brookhaven, including those involved in expanding quantum networking infrastructure. Tandeka Boko from Forsyth Technical Community College expressed her interest in making quantum more accessible to students: “I want to pique my students’ interest enough for them to choose to engage in this growing field.”
Raymond Samuel from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University highlighted the importance of collaboration: “Single institutions are not appropriate for addressing these big challenges.”
The event allowed participants to connect with representatives from other DOE National QIS Research Centers. Aloysius Jones from Forsyth Technical Community College emphasized his goal of building connections: “I didn’t have access to many opportunities when I was a student. I want my students to have the experiences I never got to have.”
McGuire noted FOQUS’s role in diversifying the QIS ecosystem: “FOQUS is diversifying the QIS ecosystem by inviting newcomers who can contribute their talent and ideas.” She introduced concepts like ‘entangling the people’ and ‘superposition mindset’ as essential for building a successful workforce.
These concepts focus on maintaining connections within the QIS community and recognizing everyone's potential contributions. McGuire concluded that these ideas would be transformative for the QIS ecosystem.