A quantum trip to Sherbrooke
Or how not to make a fool of yourself when you meet a Nobel Prize winner
Did you know that natural wine is better than organic wine?
I am not sure that I even knew the difference between the two before my 3 days in Sherbrooke, Canada but I must tell you that natural wines beat the competition any day.
Natural wines use minimal intervention and processing, whereas organic wines are produced with regular methods. Natural wines are organic but not all organic wines are natural. Lastly - and this is where it gets important my fellow quantum friends - natural wines, unlike organic wines, do not use additives - critically: sulfites.
While not my most important learning from the 1st Alain Aspect Symposium held in Sherbrooke on November 23rd, it is definitely my favorite one because this lesson was taught to me by no other than the Nobel Prize winner himself. And he is a forceful teacher who does not like to be argued with.
In a 15 minute, one-on-one lecture on the evening of Thanksgiving day I was schooled in wine and the consequences of sulfite on your health the morning after. And when I brought up the merits of beer (I'm German after all) the night did not end in my favor.
Two weeks earlier Christophe Jurczak from Quantonation had reached out to me and asked if I would be up for coming to Quebec over the holiday. And luckily I said…
In a quantum tech ecosystems with too many meaningless conferences, and so many regional programs that call themselves “the first”, “the best” and “transformative”, my 3 days in the northerly snow turned out to be an eye-opener and real relationship builder.
So off I went from my tropical paradise to this small town 2 hours east of Montreal, not knowing what to expect.
Let me tell you!
First of all, snow. How do people even survive here?
Second of all, a pioneering and extremely ambitious quantum tech ecosystem. The symposium, held on the 23rd, was preceded by a day of festivities during which Prof. Alain Aspect was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Sherbrooke.
On Thursday we were hosted by the Institut Quantique, founded in 2016, a beautiful new building with 3 quantum computers right there in the lobby, 26 professors (not in the lobby) and almost 150 students, for a long morning of talks around quantum & pharma. The speakers were the creme de la creme and unusually transparent as to their activities and current state. To no surprise, quantum today is a hybrid solution with classical resources and a lot of A.I. to boost - it was refreshing to see a number of slides that made this very transparent and tangible.
Prof. Aspect - most curious and asking questions to virtually every speaker - remarked how amazed he was at the technical progress, something he never expected to see in his lifetime. And encouraged us all to more closely collaborate with researchers, saying that there is still a lot of basic science that needs to be done.
The real fun began in the afternoon when we were taken on a tour of the local ecosystem - this is where it all came together for me.
In the picturesque city of Sherbrooke, Quebec, a quiet quantum revolution is brewing, and at its core is a formidable trio:
The Institut quantique (IQ) at the Université de Sherbrooke
The Interdisciplinary Institute for Technological Innovation (3IT)
The MiQro Innovation Collaborative Centre (C2MI), now joined by the DistriQ Quantum Innovation Zone
IQ does cutting-edge research, recognized by the government as an Innovation Zone, and is a beacon of quantum advancement, nurturing a robust ecosystem where academia and industry intersect to push the boundaries of quantum technologies. The institute places a strong emphasis on student involvement and aims to bridge the gap between science and the application of quantum technologies.
3IT, a melting pot of innovation, where researchers and industries unite to turn ideas into impact. Spanning digital transformation to sustainable energy, 3IT is where challenges in promising sectors are met with solutions that foster the development of impactful technologies across various domains, including digital transformation, robotics, health, and sustainable energy. Housed in a 7,000 square meter facility, it acts as a crucible for collaboration between scientists and industry, embodying the full innovation chain from design to valorization.
The C2MI stands tall as a linchpin of this ecosystem, a hub where microelectronic wonders are born. Backed by a $175 million arsenal of high-tech tools, C2MI bridges the chasm between research and real-world applications, fostering a climate where microelectronic innovations can flourish across diverse industries. Being the largest electronic systems research and development center in Canada, it is revered for its contributions to the development and commercialization of components essential for digital technologies.
Joining them is DistriQ, the newly christened Quantum Innovation Zone. It represents the next stride in Sherbrooke's quantum journey, cementing partnerships that span across the venture capital and technological enterprise landscape, and nurturing the growth of quantum startups.
Quantacet is a venture capital firm founded in 2023 and is the first and only VC fund in Quebec to focus on the global quantum technology market. Quantacet invests in early-stage quantum startups that are working on solutions to some of the world's biggest challenges. Quantacet's managing partner is Martin Laforest. He is a trained quantum physicist, product manager, and scientific outreach expert with over 15 years of experience
QV Studio is a Startup Studio partnering with two venture capital funds, Quantonation and Quantacet dedicated, like it, to quantum technologies. QV Studio's mission is to create and de-risk university spinoffs developing quantum technologies to transform different markets, including energy, health, sustainability, etc.
Quantonation, the famous French quantum tech VC, is a key instigator of this new ecosystem, funder of several of the initiatives and a provider of startup talent with some of its portfolio companies already having established offices in Sherbrooke.
The convergence of these institutions creates an ecosystem that is more than the sum of its parts. It's a nexus where the future is not just predicted, but actively shaped. Sherbrooke's quantum technology ecosystem is not just contributing to science; it's laying down the groundwork for an economy brimming with high-tech promise.
What was palpable in Sherbrooke is the unique combination of talent & expertise with tight integration amongst key stakeholders based on a flexible, demand driven shared infrastructure such as the Angstron Quantum Series below, providing a 200mm fab for Josephson Junctions.
The gentleman standing behind me, with a knack for fancy tropical shirts, is Vincent Aimez, Vice-President Partnerships and Knowledge Transfer at the Université de Sherbrooke. A man with a clear vision, strong strategy and flawless execution - one of the many driving forces of this ecosystem.
The next day saw the official inauguration of DistriQ, which led the Prime Minister, François Legault, to join our quantum crowd - and he had some big announcements.
The inauguration of Espace Quantique 1 (EQ1) and its Quantum Technology Development Laboratory (DevTeQ). Both an innovation centre and an international showcase, EQ1 is intended to serve as a gateway to the Sherbrooke and Quebec ecosystem, and indeed to Canada and North America. This announcement follows PINQ2's unveiling of the computer IBM Quantum System One last September.
Located at 1950 rue Roy in Sherbrooke, Espace Quantique 1 (EQ1) is a vast 50,000 sq. ft. space entirely dedicated to the quantum technology industry. EQ1 provides startups, companies and other organizations in the ecosystem with private office space and shared workspaces. A 20,000 sq. ft. world-class shared laboratory, called the DevTeQ, is also part of the building. Some fifteen companies and partners will share this unique space, totalling over one hundred highly qualified professionals. This new Innovation Center gives companies access to state-of-the-art laboratory equipment for the development of quantum technologies and accelerates their adoption by industry.
This initiative is supported by the Quebec government to the tune of over $28.77 million, for a total investment of $40.8 million. Espace Quantique 1 will further structure the development of this field of expertise, facilitating the transition from research to commercialization and job creation. In addition, Desjardins is contributing $1 million.
Georges-Olivier, the CEO of Pasqal, announced an investment of more than $90.6 million - including a $15M loan from Quebec - over five years by the company, resulting in the creation of more than 50 jobs, and their second manufacturing facility dedicated to serving the North American market.
QV Studio announced that they will accept up to 20 startups with the goal of creating 400 jobs and attracting $120 million in VC money.
Apparently, EQ2 is already on the drawing board.
The man who pulled all of this together is an investor, at least that's what he calls himself (he has a quantum tech portfolio stuffed with future unicorns to prove it). But Christophe, and Quantonation, is much more than that - true visionaries and builders.
Not only did he get an amazing group of quantum folks to Canada, he was able to rally local government, enterprise and academia to undertake an innovation experiment never done before in quantum and it is set to write an important page in the history books of our industry. Bravo Monsieur!
More than anything, I'm just grateful to be a small part of all of this. Beyond being inhumanly smart and ambitious, all the people I interacted with were just genuinely nice and fun - the Nord Quantique team hosted me at their (under construction) office, Mathieu from Qnami and I went to explore coffee shops and I narrowly escaped an evening jog in the snow. Georges-Olivier and Loic came to grab me, excited like kids at Christmas, to insist that I experience the new Pasqal VR quantum computing world. The prime Minister cracked jokes that cannot be written down in this professional newsletter. And our Québécois friends are just friendly and happy by nature - it's the snow I guess.
Alain wished me farewell in German, like every French who studied it in school, and I was excited to show him a picture of the only quantum poster in my office. He immediately recognized it, even somewhat emotional, and told me about how he had met those reporters back in the day. He couldn't believe that I found a copy of it - I'll be putting it into the mail direction Paris ASAP.
And while this year I had no Turkey, I surely had a Thanksgiving to remember. Legendary.
#QuantumIsComing
This is my personal newsletter, all opinions are mine and do not represent GQI, The Quantum Computing Report and other affiliated entities.
Hello mr.König, I'm a research professional at Institut Quantique and i just want to inform you that we do not have 3 quantum computers in the lobby (not even one for that matter). What you saw are our dilution fridge. While those fridge could host a superconducting quantum computer, they currently do not.