Making Quantum Accessible to Startups and Government
Rick Muller, Senior Manager, Advanced Microsystems Group at Sandia National Labs, Lt Col Nick Estep, Program Manager at the Defense Innovation Unit, and William “whurley” Hurley, Founder and CEO at Strangeworks break down the myriad opportunities to startup collaboration with the Department of Defense.
What you’ll find out
- What are the hopes for the quantum community, and how can we nurture this vibrant ecosystem in the years to come?
- How can the government support quantum startups given the uncertainties that exist in quantum technologies?
- When will we see impactful applications arise from quantum research?
- What kind of collaboration and competition can we expect to see from other countries and companies in the quantum research field?
Key takeaways
- “One of my hopes for what we call the quantum ecosystem is something that can kind of sustain quantum as a field through the ups and downs that it’s likely to go through over the next however many years. And I think it’s particularly exciting that we’ve got experts on the entrepreneurial side and on the government side as well.” — Rick Muller, Sandia National Labs
- “I believe that the US government should be investing 10, 15, 20 times what they’re investing currently, given the importance to national security, the importance to new material sciences and space travel, all the things that we want to be leaders in.” — William “whurley” Hurley, Strangeworks
- “They may not have all the extensive experience for integration and validation of these types of [quantum] systems for the relevant environment (think of space, for example), but they may go and partner with some ventures and businesses that do have that experience. And that’s a good balance that we are implementing in order to take things out of the demonstration, out of the lab environment, and get to prototyping, actually show what kind of metrics we can achieve that is relevant towards the warfighter.” — Nick Estep, Defense Innovation Unit
- “You want to go to Mars? There are some things we could definitely use a quantum computer for. You want to build better encryption? Absolutely, post-quantum cryptography is a problem that is important. Optimization for logistics is probably the first one where you see the most activity, be it companies like Volkswagen with their autonomous stuff or the things UPS and FedEx have looked into with quantum.” — William “whurley” Hurley, Strangeworks
Who you’ll hear from
About Fed Supernova
Fed Supernova, presented by Microsoft, is a virtual conference highlighting federal innovation in Texas. This first-of-its-kind interactive experience will draw national attention and connect leading entrepreneurs, investors, thought leaders, corporations, and decision-makers from around the world.
About Capital Factory
Capital Factory is the center of gravity for entrepreneurs in Texas, the number one state for startups in the U.S. Thousands of entrepreneurs, programmers, and designers gather day and night, in-person and online for meetups, classes, and coworking. With boots on the ground in Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, we meet the best entrepreneurs in Texas and introduce them to investors, employees, mentors, and customers. According to Pitchbook, Capital Factory has been the most active, early-stage investor in Texas since 2010.
