Governor Lamont and I are excited to announce the State of Connecticut's support for QuantumCT, as we compete for a $160M National Science Foundation grant. We are one of 15 finalists for the award, and one of 2 focused on Quantum. Governor Lamont has pledged over $120M in support of our quantum ecosystem, with $60m pledged upfront and $60m in matching funds if (when) we win the NSF award.
QuantumCT will be based out of New Haven given Yale University's long history in Quantum innovation and the importance of Quantum and AI to the biotech industry, which for us is centered in and around New Haven.
I wanted to take a moment to talk about 3 things: why quantum, why now, and most importantly: why Connecticut.
Why Quantum
Quantum is no longer a "someday" technology. Quantum technologies are already commercialized, and there is a developing consensus that broad commercial adoption of Quantum computing could arrive within 10 years. The Quantum era will have implications for every one of our industries, but especially our companies supporting our national defense, discovering new therapeutics, and ushering in the next generation of financial technologies.
Why now?
If those estimates hold to be true, the time to prepare our state, our workforce, and our infrastructure is now. QuantumCT was formed to be the coordinating body behind these efforts, combining the research power of Yale and UConn with the quality of Connecticut's workforce and Governor Lamont's willingness to forward invest in the infrastructure required to dominate.
QuantumCT will develop a testbed facility and coworking space to allow our industry and academic partners access to the latest available technologies to research, experiment, iterate and commercialize.
I believe in my core this is a silicon valley like moment for Connecticut.
Similar to how the semiconductor emerged in the 1950s and then over the next century became perhaps the most strategic industry in global commerce and national security. I believe the convergence of Quantum and AI is a watershed moment that we can either claim or cede. And we intend to claim a leadership position given our long history in Quantum innovation.
Left: Bell Lab in 1948. Right: Rob Schoelkopf (right) of Yale's Quantum Institute.
Why Connecticut?
For well over a century, Connecticut has led the United States in advanced manufacturing and the application of advanced technologies. Our history in establishing Connecticut as an early leader in support of our national defense, and today boasts large national defense companies including Lockheed Martin (Sikorsky), RTX (Pratt and Whitney and Collins Aerospace) and General Dynamics (Electric Boat). For those reasons, CT has developed a workforce with a deeply specialized expertise at the intersection of electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and the material sciences.
This is what Connecticut does.
And I would argue that if you zoom in on some of our core innovations - if you zoom in on a nuclear submarine, if you zoom in on a photolithography machine, and if you zoom in on a quantum computer, you see that intersection of our core disciplines. That is why we have a right to win here. A right to lead.
Excited about the opportunity ahead. LFG!
Governor Lamont's and my remarks at the announcement.