QCIS-FF: Quantum Computing & Information Science Faculty Fellow at North Carolina State University

计算机几乎彻底改变了我们生活的方方面面，但有些问题是基于经典逻辑和二进制数字的机器永远无法解决的。相比之下，通过使用量子物理定律以完全不同的方式表示数据和执行计算，我们预计量子计算机将能够解决经典计算机无法解决的问题。这类问题的例子包括优化、提高机器学习性能、药物发现和风险评估。例如，通过创建每日临时航空公司航班时刻表来应对意外延误，量子计算可以减少客户的旅行时间、空中交通拥堵和航空公司的燃料成本。量子计算似乎正处于指数级增长的门槛，但它面临着全球人才短缺的问题。此外，重大的技术挑战仍然存在，最好由计算机科学家和计算机工程师来解决。因此，迫切需要开发严格、灵活和跨学科的课程，为计算机科学和计算机工程专业的学生在量子计算领域的职业生涯做好准备。从研究的角度来看，从量子比特的设计到应用，在各个层面都有重大的机会做出根本性的贡献。为了帮助解决这一需求，北卡罗莱纳州立大学将在量子计算领域招募一名终身教职员工，这是电气与计算机工程系（ECE）和计算机科学系（CSC）的联合任命。任命为助理或副教授级别。新教员将受益于通过北卡州立大学的IBM Q Hub访问最先进的量子计算机。目前这些包括20、27和53量子比特处理器，量子体积高达32。该教员将成为北卡罗来纳州立大学不断发展的多学科量子计算社区的一员，该社区涉及化学、数学、物理、材料科学与工程以及ECE和CSC等部门。量子计算与信息科学学院研究员将在帮助发展这个社区，设计和实施量子计算课程以及推进量子工程的最新技术方面发挥积极作用。这名新员工的一些机会领域可能与现有教员的兴趣重叠，如跨平台翻译、调试和错误检测技术、评估量子纠缠的度量、磁介子光谱、电子设计自动化的量子计算和定量金融的量子计算。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Computers have revolutionized almost every area of our lives, but there are certain problems that machines based on classical logic and binary digits will simply never be able to solve. In contrast, by representing data and performing calculations in fundamentally different ways using the laws of quantum physics, we anticipate that quantum computers will be able to solve problems that cannot be solved with a classical computer. Examples of such problems include optimization, improving the performance of machine learning, drug discovery, and assessing risks. As an example, by creating daily ad hoc airline flight schedules in response to unexpected delays, quantum computing could reduce customer travel time, air traffic congestion and airline fuel costs. Quantum computing appears to be at the threshold of exponential growth, but it faces a world-wide shortage of talent. In addition, significant technical challenges remain that are best addressed by Computer Scientists and Computer Engineers. Consequently there is an urgent need to develop rigorous, flexible, and interdisciplinary curricula to prepare computer science and computer engineering students for careers in quantum computing. From a research prospective, there are significant opportunities to make fundamental contributions at all levels, from qubit design to applications.To help address this need, North Carolina State University will recruit a tenure-track faculty member in quantum computing as a joint appointment between the Departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and Computer Science (CSC). The appointment will be at the Assistant or Associate Professor level. The new faculty member will benefit from access to state-of-the-art quantum computers through the IBM Q Hub at NC State. At present these include 20, 27, and 53 qubit processors with quantum volumes up to 32. The faculty member will be part of a growing multi-disciplinary quantum computing community at NC State involving departments such as Chemistry, Math, Physics, and Materials Science & Engineering, as well as ECE and CSC. The Quantum Computing and Information Science Faculty Fellow will play an active role in helping to grow this community, in designing and implementing a quantum computing curriculum, and advancing the state-of-the art in quantum engineering. Some of the areas of opportunity for this new hire can overlap with existing faculty interests such as cross-platform translation, debugging & error detection techniques, metrics for evaluating quantum entanglement, magnon spectra, quantum computing for electronic design automation, and quantum computing for quantitative finance.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.