#quantumsensing

Australian Consortium Launches Quantum-Enabled “Brain-on-Chip” to Accelerate Drug Discovery

TESSARA Therapeutics Ltd

Tessara Therapeutics of Australia spearheaded an international effort to develop a quantum-enabled “Brain-on-Chip” technology, a pharmaceutical industry paradigm shift. This technology uses cutting-edge 3D human neural micro-tissues and quantum sensing to bridge the gap between complex human clinical trials and laboratory cell cultures, offering new hope for treating debilitating diseases like epilepsy, Parkinson's, and Alzheimer's.

Breaking Neuroscience's "Failure-Heavy" Cycle

High risk and startling failure rates have plagued neurological drug discovery. Most promising drugs fail in human trials because standard preclinical models, especially 2D cell cultures and animal models, cannot predict human biological responses. Even because 2D cultures lack brain complexity, animal models often fail to simulate certain human neurodegenerative disorders.

Tessara Therapeutics' RealBrain technique creates three-dimensional neural micro-tissues from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Unlike cell clusters, these micro-tissues use a patented synthetic hydrogel matrix to mimic the brain's extracellular environment. Neurons self-organize into stable, working networks of neurons and glia, creating a “living” model with brain-like electrical impulses.

The Power of Quantum Diamond Sensing

The “Brain-on-Chip” platform's ability to "read" three-dimensional tissues without injury is its breakthrough. The consortium collaborated with Chromos Labs to use quantum diamond micropillar arrays for quantum sensing.

Traditional brain activity monitoring uses obtrusive electrodes or dangerous fluorescent dyes. These diamond-based sensors are biocompatible and image at high resolution without labeling. This “world-first high-aspect-ratio pillar fabrication” detects millivolt-scale electrical signals from deep 3D tissue in real time.

Dr. Nikolai Dontschuk, Chromos Labs' founder and CEO, says the latest research focuses on widening these sensors' “field of view”. In this next phase, we are broadening the field of view to measure electrical impulses across all RealBrain micro-tissues to achieve the most complete network state image, Dontschuk said.

Industrial Scale and Government Support

The platform prioritizes neurodegeneration clinically. The Tessara Therapeutics ADBrain model replicates Alzheimer's disease symptoms including tau phosphorylation and amyloid accumulation in three weeks. This allows scientists to precisely test a treatment's influence on human brain networks before giving a patient a dose.

Along with Alzheimer's disease, the platform has tested neuroprotective drugs like NUZ-001 and Exenatide. These studies showed that the platform could evaluate cell survival, neuron branching "connectivity" and network complexity.

This technique might be used to study anxiety and schizophrenia, the group hopes. Researchers want to create “digital/biological twins” from patients' cells for personalized treatment.

A New Regulation Standard

Scalability has plagued “organ-on-chip” technology. This high-throughput screening technology for 96- and 384-well formats lets pharmaceutical companies examine hundreds of drug candidates at once. Quantum Brilliance is making diamond chips as scalable and accessible as computer hardware by developing production routes. Quantum Brilliance co-founder and CTO Marcus Doherty said this collaboration combines Australia's manufacturing and cutting-edge technologies. He stressed that reliable, quantum-grade diamond is essential for platform adoption.

The research began with a $2.1 million Australian Government Critical Technologies Challenge Program (CTCP) funding. The $12.7 million effort aims to make Australia a quantum biotechnology leader.

Industrial Scale and Government Support

The FDA and other foreign regulators are reducing animal testing as Brain-on-Chip technology develops. “The platform is in perfect alignment with this global regulatory shift toward more accurate, human-relevant methods,” said Tessara Therapeutics CEO Dr. Christos Papadimitriou.

By mass-collecting functional brain activity, the group hopes to transform biotech economics. Neurology should become data-driven and reliable from its “failure-heavy” process.

Great Lakes Crystal Technologies GLCT increases quantum diamond supply chains for research and innovative applications.

Diamonds, known for their flawless sparkle, have long been associated with wealth and beauty. The rapidly emerging field of quantum information technology values diamonds for their flaws. Qubits with these planned imperfections, called “nitrogen-vacancy defects” or vacancy centers, will fuel the next generation of quantum sensors, computers, and networks.

Today, the Midwest is pushing to turn these minor faults into a lucrative industrial sector. A diverse ecosystem of entrepreneurs, worldwide leaders, and academic institutions is building one of the first integrated quantum diamond supply chains in the US, focusing on Illinois-Wisconsin-Indiana. As the “Quantum Prairie,” this project aims to bridge mass-market production and lab breakthroughs.

Why Qubits Love Diamonds

In quantum mechanics, qubits are notoriously brittle and easily upset. Diamond-based qubits are durable, unlike many quantum devices that operate below space temperature.

The toughest natural material on Earth, diamond lattice, shields defective qubits. Diamond's electrical insulation blocks noise and dissipates heat. Due to their structural durability, diamond qubits can store quantum information at higher temperatures and for longer periods than other systems.

Diamonds are ideal for quantum sensing due of these features. These sensors can precisely monitor magnetic fields, revolutionizing mining, navigation, and medical diagnostics. A diamond-based quantum sensor may attach a magnetic atom to a pharmaceutical molecule to track its travel through a human cell.

Ultimate Semiconductor Challenge

Diamond is the “ultimate semiconductor” outside of quantum applications, say experts. Diamond outperforms silicon in practically every technical parameter, including power efficiency, physical resistance, and reliability, but silicon is cheap and abundant, thus silicon underpins modern electronics.

However, quality and cost have generally prevented diamond adoption. Creating diamonds with quantum-technology-specific vacancy centers is expensive and complicated. Great Lakes Crystal Technologies (GLCT) vice president of research and development Paul Quayle says, “the quality of the material just isn't high enough to exploit it for the performance that you need.”

A Manufacturing Ecosystem Collaboration

Five key Chicago Quantum Exchange (CQE) corporate partners are addressing these obstacles with their respective strengths across the production lifecycle:

The first step in making quantum-grade diamonds is done by Great Lakes Crystal Technologies (GLCT) and WD Advanced Materials. WD Advanced Materials makes diamond blocks with “pink” hues to show nitrogen-vacancy problems in qubits.

K1 Semiconductor: A University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering business that uses a revolutionary “spalling” technology. Splitting a diamond substrate into ultra-thin layers 20 times boosts cost-effectiveness and scalability.

staC12: Another UChicago PME, staC12, makes thin-film diamonds for sapphire and silicon. Since “all of modern technology is made of material heterostructures,” integrating diamond with other materials is difficult.

Applied Materials: A global leader in materials engineering, Applied Materials provides the industrial infrastructure to incorporate diamond hearts into optical and electrically communicating electronic devices.

Synergy is already paying off for these guys. K1 Semiconductor and GLCT are testing a cycle in which GLCT grows diamond in bulk, K1 divides it into wafers, and GLCT grows more diamond using the templates.

The Bloch: National Scaling

This regional program centers on the CQE-led Bloch Quantum Tech Hub. The Bloch is competing for federal funds to build a scalable quantum supply chain after the Economic Development Administration named it a US Tech Hub.

Lack of a large-scale domestic supply chain is a problem in the U.S. quantum environment, says CQE director David Awschalom. By connecting innovators and producers, the Bloch hopes to avoid “throttled by material scarcity” in the transfer from lab physics to field sensors.

Future of Quantum Prairie

As the technology improves, quantum computer and communication applications are expected, even as diamond-based quantum sensors near commercialization. Diamond will be the “second implementation” of quantum computing, when quantum systems transcend present technology, according to WD Advanced Materials CTO John Ciraldo.

Photon number resolving detector

Researchers have made major advances in photon-number-resolving (PNR) detection, a key technology for quantum computing and secure communications. These groups have overcome traditional detectors to count light particles with unprecedented accuracy, providing a robust barrier against modern cyberattacks.

The Light-Counting Challenge

High-performance quantum technologies like quantum imaging and sensing require the detection and characterization of many-photon states. Conventional single-photon detectors can detect light, but they often have problems distinguishing between one, two, or three photons. This restriction is hazardous because an eavesdropper can employ “multi-photon pairs” to steal information unnoticed in Quantum Key Distribution (QKD).

Emitter Cascade: New Architecture

Researchers from the University of Waterloo have devised a PNR detector system using a cascade of waveguide-coupled Λ-type emitters. Instead of using beamsplitters to distribute photons among detectors, this innovative method uses a chain of atoms or quantum dots coupled to a chiral (one-way) waveguide.

This system employs Single-Photon Raman Interaction. This arrangement uses a Λ-type atom as a “photon-activated switch”. The first photon of a light pulse is coherently redirected to a different output port and detected after interacting with the atom. Importantly, after “capturing” one photon, the atom becomes transparent to the pulse's other photons. Researchers can cascade emitters to deterministically “peel off” and count photons.

Guide to Nonlinear Frontier

A major focus at Waterloo was the shift from linear to nonlinear regimes. Photons are far apart in the linear regime, making them independent. As quantum networks accelerate and pulses compress, photons overlap during the “emitter’s lifetime”.

Multiple photons arriving within the atomic response time generate nonlinear interactions. The researchers found that these interactions cause “saturation effects” and photon correlations like bunching and anti-bunching. The researchers used Green's function formalisms and the quantum trajectory technique to generate complex “scattering matrices” to predict how these interactions affect detector accuracy. They found that increasing the number of emitters in the cascade can compensate for nonlinearity issues and outperform beamsplitter-based detectors in practice.

Protection against “Photon Number Splitting”

At the same time, an Indian Institute of Technology Delhi team proved that multi-photon emissions degrade quantum entanglement. Entanglement, or “spooky action at a distance,” underpins safe quantum communication, but it is not perfect.

Single, double, and triple photon pair events produced by spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) were separated and measured using parallel superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors at IIT Delhi. Increased multi-photon pair generation causes a “marked reduction” in the Bell parameter (S parameter), a standard indicator of entanglement quality.

Security and technical issues arise from this degradation. In a Photon Number Splitting (PNS) attack, Eve, an eavesdropper, intercepts one photon from a multi-photon state while the rest pass to the permitted recipient. Eve can steal the cryptographic key without alarming a typical detector since the whole entanglement appears intact.

The researchers showed that PNR detectors solve this problem. Accurate photon counts in real time allow genuine parties to discover “anomalies in their expected correlations” and eliminate compromised multi-photon states. This allows Alice and Bob, quantum communicators, to detect eavesdropping and maintain their secure connection.

Technical Specifications and Performance

Using different voltage thresholds, the IIT Delhi P-SNSPDs can resolve up to four photons, proving their remarkable PNR capabilities. These detectors have fast recovery times (80 ps) and high efficiency (up to 99.5%, according to studies).

The Waterloo team's emitter-based device offers high performance using quantum dots in photonic crystal waveguides. Experimental platforms have achieved coupling efficiencies of 0.98 and directionality close to unity. When coupling rates reach GHz, photon absorption and re-emission become fast and efficient, making these devices ideal for high-speed quantum processors.

Road Ahead

Both research say effective PNR detection is “essential for achieving robust, secure quantum communication”. Traditional spatial demultiplexing algorithms have been used, but the deterministic emitter cascade allows new quantum tomography forms and higher precision.

China 15th Five-Year Plan

The 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030) positions quantum technology as a key driver of economic growth in China. In a strategic shift from academic research to commercial implementation, the new strategy names quantum technology the leader of seven “future industries” that will drive economic growth. This elevates the sector from laboratory successes to robust commercialization supported by large state investment and tailored regulatory assistance.

Rapidly Growing Market

China's recent market performance shows its quantum ambitions. Quantum computing alone reached RMB 11.56 billion (US$1.61 billion) by 2025, expanding 30% yearly. Companies in the space increased 40% from 93 in 2023 to 153 in 2024.

This surge is due to government resource distribution changes. The 15th Five-Year Plan prioritizes commercialization through government procurement, manufacturing subsidies, and large-scale application deployments over university research grants. Three regional quantum-focused funds received RMB 121.8 billion (US$17.5 billion) from the National Venture Guidance Fund to achieve these targets.

The Three Quantum Tech Pillars

China has three quantum subsectors with different maturity levels:

Quantum communications dominates the business with 60% of revenue. China's 10,000-kilometer Beijing-Shanghai trunk line and 2016 Micius satellite are the world's longest operational quantum backbone and sole quantum communications satellite. Quantum encryption allows ICBC to remotely transport data and make money.

Hardware achievements include the 107-qubit Zuchongzhi 3.2 superconducting processor and 504-qubit Tianyan-504 cluster system. Quantum computing is the fastest-growing segment, anticipated to account for 41% of the quantum market by 2025.

International commercialization of Hanyuan-1 neutral-atom quantum computers began in 2025.

Despite its early commercialization, quantum sensing is utilized in high-tech production. CATL and Gotion High-Tech, battery giants, use quantum sensors to assure manufacturing quality.

Geographic Innovation Clusters

Four geographic hubs with expertise have converged industry:

Hefei, China's "quantum capital," has USTC and Origin Quantum. Superconducting computer manufacturing and advanced R&D remain there.

Beijing: The national standards and policy center, Beijing emphasizes quantum sensing and measurement.

Guangzhou and Shenzhen: In addition to having the first photonic quantum computer production line, Shenzhen and Guangdong prioritize commercial products and large-scale manufacturing.

Shanghai & Yangtze River Delta: The cluster emphasizes financial services and industrial applications due to the region's banks and innovative manufacturing.

Foreign Players' Opportunities and Challenges

Foreign involvement is nuanced in the 15th Five-Year Plan. The amended Foreign Investment Encouraged Catalogue provides reduced corporate tax rates and tariff exemptions for foreign-invested enterprises for quantum computing research and development starting in February 2026.

However, “bifurcation risks” persist. Foreign providers can use healthcare and banking apps, but government and defense sectors are mainly blocked. Western export restrictions on advanced components have promoted Chinese “domestic substitution”.

The supply chain gaps where multinational enterprises can make a difference remain. Chinese expertise in cryogenic control systems, high-end measuring tools, and Helium-3 remains poor. Software and algorithm development allows multinational companies to license technology to Chinese industrial customers without shipping hardware.

Close Window

While domestic “state-supported champions” like China Telecom Quantum Group and QuantumCTek quickly improve, experts warn the window for entering China's quantum sector is shrinking. A major change is that the 15th Five-Year Plan makes quantum a competitive industry necessity rather than just research.

Leonardo launches the “Solvers Wanted” challenge to bridge quantum theory and practice.

Overview

Leonardo Technology's latest Solvers Wanted challenge, “Beyond Classical Limits,” promotes quantum imaging, communication, and sensing. This research attempts to bridge theoretical lab experiments and actual implementations by creating scalable, reliable quantum and photonics solutions. Researchers and startups can suggest innovative quantum LiDAR algorithms, optical links, and modeling methods. Successful candidates will work with the firm's professionals to create a Proof of Concept and get up to €30,000. Winners also receive professional mentoring and Leonardo Innovation Labs infrastructure. This project shows the company's commitment to open innovation and cutting-edge technology.

Quantum Information Needed

Leonardo is leading the quantum revolution as technology evolves. The company thinks quantum technology and advanced photonic systems will drive the next generation of imaging, communication, and sensor applications. The sources claim that these technologies can outperform traditional methods in information content, accuracy, and robustness.

There is still a major obstacle. Quantum prototypes have showed promise under lab conditions, but their deployment in unexpected real-world environments is technologically challenging. Leonardo's new task is to turn experimental prototypes into scalable, reliable, and valuable solutions.

Three Innovation Pillars

Instead of a broad request for ideas, the aim is to research three high-priority areas:

Quantum Sensing Modeling and Innovative Solutions: Finding ways to measure and detect physical quantities with unprecedented accuracy. Free-Space Optical Links and Quantum Communications: Quantum physics improves security and speeds up data transport.

Algorithms and Techniques for Real-Time DVE Quantum LiDAR: Emphasizing “Degraded Visual Environment” (DVE) capabilities, which helicopters and airplanes need in smoke, dust, or heavy rain. Leonardo is working with entrepreneurs, self-employed researchers, and start-ups with quick thinking and specific knowledge to advance photonics and quantum physics.

Prizes and Opportunities for Partnership

In addition to financial advantages, the “Solvers Wanted” portal provides direct access to Leonardo's industrial ecosystem. Two key competitive tracks:

Technology Challenge winner receives €30,000 cash. More importantly, they will gain access to Leonardo Innovation Labs and start a 12-month partnership with the company to produce a Proof of Concept.

The Infrastructure Challenge: This challenge is for those who flourish in certain technology environments. The winner receives €10,000 and uses Leonardo's specialist infrastructure to test and refine their solutions.

In addition to these accolades, Leonardo's Team for Innovation will help recipients launch their solutions and promote their brand at major industry events.

A Record Year for Leonardo Innovation

Leonardo's “Open Innovation” policy faces a quantum challenge at a peak period. With almost 1,000 entries, the company announced that its Innovation Award 2025 had reached a record high, demonstrating global IT community participation.

Companies' strategic and financial health reflect this dynamic. On February 25, 2026, the Board of Directors reviewed the preliminary 2025 findings and decided that long-term growth and industrial planning were prioritized. Leonardo expands its global reach and partner network. Recent deals include a high-profile C-27J MPA deal with Saudi Arabia and a major cyber defense partnership with the Indra Group.

Function of Leonardo Innovation Labs

These projects require the Leonardo Innovation Labs network and davinci-1 supercomputer. These centers encourage knowledge transfer and collaborative research across Leonardo's Cyber & Security, Electronics, Helicopters, Aeronautics, and Space business divisions.

Leonardo intends to incorporate cutting-edge quantum research into its Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) and other sustainability programs like supply chain decarbonization by inviting outside "solvers."

In conclusion, seeking tomorrow's problem-solvers

Leonardo uses the “Solvers Wanted” challenge to maintain its technical edge in a competitive global market. Instead of making incremental advancements, the company is focusing on quantum sensing and communication to create “beyond classical” technologies that will transform aerospace and defense.

As the deadline approaches, the international scientific community is encouraged to submit ideas that could change how we see, interact with, and protect our planet. Leonardo knows the future is quantum, and the search for its designers has begun.

What Solvers Want?

University of New Mexico UNM

The University of New Mexico (UNM), Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) are implementing a plan to make New Mexico the national leader in quantum information science. A powerful ecosystem of workforce development, industrial innovation, and research is the goal of this collaboration. In early 2024, it surged.

By 2026, the state leads the “second quantum revolution,” not merely participates. “Where discovery moves at the speed of imagination” is how UNM research vice president Ellen Fisher describes this time. Fisher says UNM is a “catalyst for breakthrough innovation,” bringing scientists, corporate executives, and future “quantum pioneers” together to change technology.

Foundation: Quantum New Mexico Institute

This statewide effort is led by the January 2024-founded Quantum New Mexico Institute (QNM-I). One of UNM's leading multidisciplinary research institutions, QNM-I links theory and practice. The Institute brings together national laboratories' technical expertise, universities' intellectual resources, and the private sector's flexibility to improve innovation and the local workforce.

QNM-I took decades to develop. UNM scientists like Professors Carlton Caves and Ivan Deutsch have led QIS globally for nearly 30 years. They trained many global leaders, and their early efforts helped establish the university's renown. Professor Deutsch, the Institute's founding director, says New Mexico's history is vital to the “technology of tomorrow” and that its sophisticated engineering will put it in the “national spotlight”.

Frontier Definition: QIS?

Quantum information technology may seem like science fiction, but its future effects are real. QIS is the study of “complex interactions of quantum physics that harness the strange behavior of matter and energy at the smallest atomic scales” according to UNM Associate Vice President for Research Dave Hanson and QNM-I Director Bob Ledoux. These paradoxical properties are revolutionizing quantum communication, quantum sensing, and computation.

QIS was considered “something only in movies” by many economic development authorities four years ago, according to Hanson. However, its “inside knowledge” of the research helped New Mexico shift course faster than its competitors. These same ideas now underpin a new economic sector that could transform global communications, healthcare, quantum computing, and national security.

Investment Ecosystem Worth Millions

This proposal has massive financial backing. QNM-I helped found Elevate Quantum, the only US quantum tech hub, in 2024. The U.S. Economic Development Agency helped this designation result in a $127 million federal and state investment.

The QNM-I innovation ecosystem got $25 million from the State of New Mexico Economic Development Department in 2025, maintaining momentum. With $4 million from the National Quantum Virtual Laboratory and $16 million in sponsored grants, $20 million was added.

This capital is being utilized. UNM supports 35 Ph.D. students and 12 HB-2 Fellowships, ensuring a steady supply of specialists for the growing sector. The workforce development path beyond graduate-level research includes a critical partnership with Central New Mexico Community College (CNM).

Roadmap to 2029 and Beyond

Bob Ledoux, who oversees QNM-I and created this statewide roadmap, established two crucial benchmarks for the state's success.

The state must continue to recruit elite academic talent to support UNM, SNL, and LANL expertise.

A track record of attracting well-established enterprises and fast expanding startups is needed to attract private investment for long-term sustainability.

Ledoux believes that New Mexico has a “unmatched concentration of quantum talent,” reinforced by the program's 25–30 year history, but a physical, dedicated institution is needed to achieve that promise. This center would host modern classical and quantum computers for application-specific research, hardware development, and workforce training.

Winning Together: Coordination

New Mexico excels in institutional cooperation. Dave Hanson says international partners have visited New Mexico to see how the state operates across sectors. “They tell us they are amazed at how accessible everyone is and how well a collaborate across sectors and institutions,” Hanson said. This “winning together” approach contributed to the state's success, he says.

But competition is strong. Several states are also competing for NIST, DOD, and DOE grants. New Mexico must maximize its national lab dollars like no other state to keep ahead.

Continuous Commitment is Essential

Leadership at UNM and QNM-I calls quantum innovation a marathon, not a sprint. Quantum innovation requires “steady, long-term commitment” since it “doesn’t evolve in short bursts,” says Ellen Fisher. The technical future may “arrive somewhere else” without constant, reliable funding instead of annual re-competition.

New Mexico has a three-year strategy to make “generational investments” a long-term economic pillar by Fiscal Year 2029. New Mexico is poised to lead the quantum revolution with decades of research, a large talent pool, and a coordinated plan.

With the Defense Industrial Strategy, Canada has chosen a new direction for its technical and military future, which industry experts call a “generational inflection point”. Industry experts call this a “generational turning point” for the nation. Quantum Industry Canada (QIC) welcomed the text as a fundamental reset of how Canada would integrate its industrial capability and national security to build long-term power and prosperity, not just an administrative update.

This approach centers on declaring quantum computing, communications, and sensing “sovereign capabilities”. This classification sends a strong “demand signal” to the domestic tech sector, transforming quantum from a “niche science project” to a vital portfolio of cutting-edge capabilities that will shape the country's senses, security, and quantum communication in the coming decades.

New Sovereign Capability Frontier

Quantum technology will be used in military and the economy, according to the military Industrial Strategy. Many applications are being hastened for “defense-first” reasons to gain an operational advantage, but industry observers note that many technologies are dual-purpose and will affect civilian life.

The plan centers on three technical pillars:

Quantum sensing will enable “from seabed to space” surveillance of the Arctic. Quantum sensing will improve ISR, PNT, and critical infrastructure monitoring by enabling ultra-precise measurements.

Quantum Communications and Cryptography: The policy emphasizes quantum-resilient cryptography to protect defense systems and civilian infrastructure. These networks will improve command-and-control and enable “trusted information exchange” against conventional and quantum-enabled cyberthreats.

Quantum Computing: Quantum systems will accelerate materials discovery, optimize complex logistics, and assist vital operational decision-making with enhanced intelligence analysis.

The “Narrowing Window” of Procurement

The industry's approach emphasizes immediacy. Canada is buying space assets, surface combatants, submarines, and Arctic surveillance systems. These platforms are expected to last decades.

QIC CEO Lisa Lambert warns of a “narrowing window” to meet these massive platform requirements with Canada's burgeoning quantum capabilities. Because supply chains and vendor selections are often “locked in” for a generation during design, today's actions will influence whether these future assets are “quantum-ready” or “quantum-enabled”. From the start, adding sovereign industrial capability to these systems could cause operational and modernization challenges.

Build–Partner–Buy Framework

QIC calls the Defense Industrial Strategy's “Build–Partner–Buy” approach “pivotal” for traversing this complex terrain. This paradigm recognises that Canada must lead at some “value-chain nodes” where it is globally competitive or where operational sovereignty is needed, even though no country can dominate the quantum field.

Build: Canada develops domestically whenever possible to retain skill, industrial capacity, and IP.

Partner: The Defense Industrial Strategy requires credible partners to ensure technological interoperability and shared resilience across worldwide networks. Buy: Procurement decisions should not hurt the domestic quantum industry.

Breaking Past Patterns

For decades, Canada has "invented the future" through top-notch research, only for other countries to industrialize and export it. The Defense Industrial Strategy offers a “real opportunity” to reverse this trend.

QIC says “potential alone” won't anchor supply chains or grow firms. The sector wants mission-driven pilots to legitimize Canadian quantum firms. Canada can turn its scientific leadership into “enduring sovereign industrial capacity” by integrating these enterprises into supply chains and scaling them through procurement with clear “pull-through.”

Execution Challenge

The strategy is bold, but the industry warns that execution discipline and throughput are crucial to its success. If the government's “contracting tempo” and cross-government alignment lag, the window for global quantum market dominance would close sooner.

New York University News

Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand secured $1 million in congressionally directed expenditure for New York University (NYU) to invest in advanced scientific research and U.S. competitiveness. This investment aims to boost NYU's quantum science research, which could transform materials science, quantum computers, quantum communications, and national technological leadership.

The funding was announced during Fiscal Year 2026 federal appropriations. Congress allocates funding items for scientific, academic, and local projects. This funding will give NYU a Thermal Laser Epitaxy (TLE) system, a cutting-edge quantum research instrument. This will improve the university's experimental capacity and advance quantum materials and technology.

Strategic Quantum Science Investment

Quantum computing, sensing, and materials research are breakthrough topics of science in the 21st century. These technologies could exceed conventional computers in data processing, encryption, and physical system modeling. But precise tools and infrastructure to operate with and observe matter at the atomic level are needed to realize this potential.

NYU plans to buy a sophisticated TLE system that offers atomic-level control over ultra-pure material layers with this federal funding. Such systems are needed to make quantum computers and quantum sensing materials. NYU's investment in TLE positions it to lead materials-by-design research for quantum applications like secure communication platforms and next-generation semiconductors.

Combining Industry and Academic Innovation

NYU President Linda G. Mills told lawmakers the importance of upgrading research infrastructure and the funding's wider consequences. NYU and research community members stated on social media that the federal funding will boost NYU's experimental capabilities and attract industrial and academic partners.

“They are grateful to Senators Schumer and Gillibrand for making this important investment in quantum research equipment possible,” Mills added, reflecting NYU's leadership. She said the funds will support research that could benefit advanced manufacturing, technology, finance, and other areas, reflecting quantum physics' multidisciplinary nature.

Quantum physics specialists say research facilities like NYU are crucial to translating scientific discoveries into practical applications. Colleges provide labs with cutting-edge equipment to train workers who can drive innovation and ensure the US remains a global leader in a quantum-impacted technology environment.

Support from Senate and Congress

Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer, senators on key spending committees, helped secure the funding. Their campaign is part of larger efforts to divert federal funds to state research facilities, particularly in fields with economic and technical potential.

In the same budget cycle as NYU's assistance, the senators announced considerable government spending on infrastructure, education, job creation, and community health projects in New York. These allotments show how targeted congressional investments can boost growth in several areas.

Schumer has long supported federal financing for cutting-edge research, and as Senate Majority Leader, he shapes science and technology policy. His legislation on high-performance computing and semiconductor research complements NYU's quantum research commitment. The increased NYU funding for research equipment is part of a federal focus on scientific competitiveness.

How Quantum Affects the Nation and Economy

The quantum race—often portrayed as a competition between nations and corporations—has major geopolitical implications. China and EU members have launched many quantum endeavors to lead sensing, secure communications, and quantum computing. The U.S. government and academic institutions have invested to maintain its leadership in this subject.

Quantum computing could revolutionize numerical simulation and optimization-intensive fields like materials science, drug development, cryptography, and financial modeling. Quantum computers can perform calculations 10 times faster than classical computers, enabling previously unachievable solutions. However, years of theoretical research and robust experimental infrastructure are needed to reach that potential, making NYU's TLE system and other tools crucial.

Beyond scholarly interest, quantum research funding boosts the economy. Universities that lead quantum science attract talented researchers, students, private funding, and industry partnerships. Innovation ecosystems enable high-tech enterprises and create skilled jobs. Long-term economic competitiveness for New York and the US depends on creating such ecosystems.

The Research Community Responds

The academic and research communities are excited about NYU's funding announcement. Academics and researchers applauded the federal money surge on social media, saying it may speed up university work. Some commenters stressed the importance of introducing TLE technology to the US since it can reduce dependency on imported equipment and offer indigenous materials scientists an edge.

STEM education is encouraged by the funding, say educators and scientists. By using cutting-edge research tools in their classrooms, NYU can increase experiential learning and prepare students for careers in digital industries.

Looking Ahead:

The monies available currently can buy hardware, but NYU's aims likely go beyond that. The institution is becoming a regional quantum research center by partnering on physics, engineering, computer science, and applied mathematics projects.