Swiss-US Quantum Days

A new conference bringing together key players from Switzerland and the United States in quantum information science and technology.

The second quantum revolution is at a crossroads. Switzerland and the United States are investing in quantum information science and technology with shared values for the power of bottom-up research and innovation. The inaugural Swiss-US Quantum Days will bring together key players in the field from both countries on October 19-21, 2022, at the David Rubenstein Forum of the University of Chicago.

The conference aims to deepen the entanglement of the Swiss and US quantum ecosystems in a way that helps to accelerate scientific and commercial breakthroughs, build bridges from lab to market, and create a vibrant ecosystem of knowledge and talent exchange. It will feature science-focused breakouts on major quantum subfields, such as hardware information processing, sensing, and algorithms. Additional sessions will address commercialization and ecosystem-building, industry use cases, and workforce development.

The first edition of the Swiss-US Quantum Days is organized by Swissnex in Boston and the Chicago Quantum Exchange, with the support of our founding partner, the Consulate General of Switzerland in Chicago, ETH Board, and Presence Switzerland. Launched by Swissnex, the initiative is part of a broader bilateral effort to promote the exchange of knowledge, resources, and talent in the field.

Program (Chicago Time)

Wednesday, October 19
19:00-20:30 – Opening reception at Swiss Consular Residence

Thursday, October 20
08:00 – Networking breakfast
09:00 – Welcome addresses

  • CQE and Swissnex welcome: David Awschalom, University of Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory,
    and Chicago Quantum Exchange and Benjamin Bollman, Swissnex
  • Charles Tahan, National Quantum Coordination Office
  • Martina Hirayama, Swiss State Secretary for Education, Research, and Innovation (SERI)
  • Sylvia I. Garcia, Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic
    Opportunity
  • Paul Alivisatos, President, University of Chicago

09:30 – Presenting the Swiss and US quantum ecosystems

  • David Awschalom, University of Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory,
    and Chicago Quantum Exchange
  • Anna Fontcuberta i Morral, EPFL

10:15 – Coffee break

10:45 – Breakout session #1: Information processing (hardware)

  • Dominik Zumbühl, University of Basel (moderator)
  • Mark A. Eriksson, University of Wisconsin-Madison
  • Nick Farina, CEO, EeroQ
  • Jonathan Home, ETH Zurich
  • Vikrant Mahajan, Zurich Instruments

10:45 – Breakout session #2: Photonics, measurement, and sensing

  • Chandra Raman, Georgia Institute of Technology (moderator)
  • Peter Maurer, University of Chicago
  • Marina Marinkovic, ETH Zurich
  • Thomas Overstolz, Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM)

12:30 – Networking lunch
14:00 – Quantum industry use cases

  • Clément Javerzac-Galy, University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Northwestern Switzerland (moderator)
  • Shouvanik Chakrabarti, JPMChase & Co.
  • Konstantinos Karagiannis, Protiviti
  • Yvonna Li, Roche
  • Matija Žeško, McKinsey & Company

15:15 – Coffee break
15:45 – Quantum tech commercialization and ecosystem building

  • Klaus Ensslin, ETH Zurich (moderator)
  • Dick Co, Chain Reaction Innovations
  • Brad Henderson, P33
  • Dorina Birsanu, uptownBasel
  • Alexander Grimm, Paul Scherrer Institute

17:00 – Emerging company pitches

  • Andrea Lovera, FemtoPrint
  • Kanav Setia, qBraid

18:00 – Conference dinner at Offshore Rooftop, Navy Pier (transportation provided)

Friday, October 21
08:00 – Networking breakfast
09:00 – Day 2 welcome remarks

  • David Awschalom, University of Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory,
    and Chicago Quantum Exchange

09:10 – Emerging company pitches

  • Keith Evans, Great Lakes Crystal Technologies
  • Parisa Fallahi, Basel Precision Instruments
  • Jennifer Flatté, QuantCAD

09:30 – Funding collaborations across countries

  • Brendan Karch, Swissnex in Boston and New York
  • Lincoln Carr, Colorado School of Mines

10:15 – Coffee break

10:45 – Breakout session #1: Software, algorithms, and theory

  • Daniel Loss, University of Basel (moderator)
  • Yuri Alexeev, Argonne National Laboratory
  • Pranav Gokhale, ColdQuanta
  • Jelena Klinovaja, University of Basel
  • Heike Riel, IBM Zurich

10:45 – Breakout session #2: Networking and communications

  • Moderator: Supratik Guha, University of Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory
  • Elizabeth Goldschmidt, UIUC
  • Matt Skrzypczyk, Aliro Quantum
  • Wolfgang Tittel, University of Geneva/TU Delft
  • Christopher Janes, IDQuantique

12:30 – Networking lunch
14:00 – Workforce and education

  • Russell Ceballos, Chicago Quantum Exchange (moderator)
  • Emily Edwards, Unviersity of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
  • Zeke Johnston-Halperin, The Ohio State University
  • Maria Longobardi, University of Basel
  • Philippe Caroff, EPFL

15:15 – Coffee break

15:45 – Concluding Session: Roadmapping an action plan

  • David Awschalom, University of Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory, and Chicago Quantum Exchange
  • Daniel Loss, University of Basel

16:30 – Conference ends

Special Guests

Featured Swiss Speakers

Featured US Speakers

Partners

The Swiss-US Quantum Days are co-organized by Swissnex in Boston and the Chicago Quantum Exchange, with the support of our founding partner the Consulate General of Switzerland in Chicago, the ETH Board, and Presence Switzerland.

  • Swissnex
  • Chicago Quantum Exchange
  • ETH
  • EPFL
  • PSI
  • PRS