Vi er veldig glade for å ha fått Noa Cecilie Sæther med på laget! Noa studerar journalistikk på andre året hos oss på OsloMet. I tida framover vil ho hjelpe oss med reportasjar, bilder, tekst og anna som har med kvante-aktiviteten vår å gjere.
Velkommen, Noa!
Professor Yves Rezus from the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (Hogeschool van Amsterdam) joined the Quantum Hub last week for his one-year sabbatical. During his time, he will participate in various Quantum Hub activities, including outreach and teaching. Specifically, he will contribute to our course on Quantum Information Technology, which aligns perfectly with his efforts at the Hogeschool, where he is also establishing a practical course on Quantum Physics and Technologies. We anticipate many productive discussions on teaching strategies, methods, and approaches, enriched by his field experience!
Last but not least, as an expert in NMR technology, Yves can help to realize our dream to utilize our three-qubit machine as an experimental platform to explore NMR physics.
The Arendal week has long since passed. And, in terms of technology, the winner of the battle for attention was quite undisputed: AI.
There were, however, some events dedicated to emerging quantum technologies too. Two, to be specific. While few, less than 1 per mille of the number of AI related events, they were very well visited.
Please read Andre Brodtkorb’s and Sergiy Denysov’s reflections on the topic in this Khrono-kronikk:
https://www.khrono.no/norge-ma-ta-del-i-det-globale-kvantekapplopet/896460
To anyone in who happen to be in Arendal Tuesday August 13th: Please join the quantum session at 14.00!
We are happy to see GlobalConnect raising the issue of the Norwegain participation in the quantum race, or, rather, the lack of such. They have put together very interesting panels of participans, many of whom are friends of the family.
Do come to Edgars bakeri and listen if you happen to be in Arendal during the Arendalsuka!
From 9th to 12th of June, we had the pleasure of hosting a little workshop on atoms and lasers – and a couple of other things too. This was put together in connection with a visit from our esteemed colleges from Warsaw University, prof. Katarzyna Krajewska (picture), prof. Jerzy Kaminski (prince George amongst friends) and their team.
They all delivered very interesting presentations – as did Thomas Bondo Pedersen and his students from the Hylleraas Centre, which is headed by Thomas, and Morten Førre and his students. Presentations holding the promise of significant and new scientific contributions in the near future – both when it comes to pair creation, strong field ionization beyond the dipole approximation and the ability to describe complex, unbound molecular systems dynamically.
As for our local “hubbers”, our own Bendik got to demonstrate several of his very nice research results, and Sergiy gave a nice introduction to the diverse activities in our hub. We were happy to see the Regal fraction of our Quantum Hub, headed by Andre, taking and active part – both presenting and participating.
For more details – and a cool gallery, please visit the workshop’s homepage.
We thank Maryam Kaviani for taking care of virtually all practicalities. And we do not thank our technical division for remaining silent about the overly cool temperature in our original venue.
Last Wednesday, Quantum Hub had the pleasure of welcoming Prof. Dr. Arthur Kolb, Vice President for Internationalisation and Equal Opportunities from Kempten University of Applied Sciences (Germany). Prof. Kolb showed great interest in our agenda and goals, particularly in the means and strategies we’re using to achieve them. He was especially curious about our two quantum computers. It sounds like Kempten might be diving into the quantum world soon too!
Last Tuesday, GoForIT hosted their annual conference. This year’s topic was AI, geopolitics & twin transition. It was a pleasure to see that the quantum agenda was included too. Clearly, Mali Hole Skogen, Technology and sustainability director ICT-Norway and the head of GoForIT, had not forgotten that she was there when Norway went quantum a couple of years ago.
There are good reasons for arguing that quantum technology will play a key role in the twin transition – the combined digital and green transition, which is anticipated by many. Therefore, it was with great enthusiasm we noticed that the program featured Alessandro Curioni, the director IBM Research in Zurich. You see him in to the left in the above picture – with the Norwegian IBM quantum ambassador Lars Nordbryhn to his left, and our own Shuakat Ali to the left of him.
A packed, attentive and tech-optimistic audience at the Sommero Hotel was explained how emerging quantum technology may change the world. The audience featured IT experts and management from both businesses and academia – in addition to politicians.
Afterwards, we also got to share some ideas with Alessandro on how to bring about quantum awareness in Norway.
Recently our faculty received funding from Ministry of Education and Research for 8 PhD positions. We are happy to announce that one of these will be allocated to a quantum-related topic. The project is lead by Kazi Shah Nawaz Ripon. We let him explain what it is about:
Quantum-inspired evolutionary algorithms (QEAs) are a type of optimization tool that have gained popularity in recent years due to their ability to solve complex problems more efficiently than traditional methods. QEAs use principles from quantum mechanics, such as qubits, superposition, entanglement, interference, coherence, and measurement, to improve their performance. However, most existing QEA implementations are designed for specialized quantum hardware, which is inaccessible to general users. Moreover, while traditional QEAs are effective for solving single-objective problems, most real-world optimization problems involve multiple interdependent objectives. Therefore, our aim is to develop a novel multi-objective QEA specifically designed for classical computing environments so that industries can use it to optimize their operations more efficiently. Ultimately, the goal is to advance optimization methodologies and facilitate broader access to cutting-edge problem-solving techniques in academic and industrial settings.
Ina von Turow, entrepreneur and quantum enthusiast, has, for a long time now, contributed actively to the campaign for making Norway quantum ready. Her latest contribution in this regard is a podcast in Norwegian: Kvantespranget – a podcast where experts and other enthusiasts share thoughts and opinions on our quantum future. A version in English, the Quantum Leap, is to follow.
The OsloMet quantum hub is a proud contributor when it comes to quantum technology. Sølve Selstø from the hub has already been interviewed by Ina – not just about the 2nd quantum revolution but also the 1st.
Tune in here:
Elise Kjørstad, journalist at Forskning.no, had obviously done her homework before visiting the hub last week. During the interview, both Sergiy and Sølve was made to think.
Please read the interview here:
