CQN's Summer Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program Introduces Students to Quantum Information Science and Engineering
The NSF Engineering Research Center, the Center for Quantum Networks (CQN) is wrapping up its summer Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program in the next few days. This year's program includes four students in Arizona and another nine students at CQN partner institutions, visiting from ten different institutions. Students are participating in research at Arizona, BYU, Harvard, Howard, UMass-Amherst, and Lockheed Martin. The summer experience provides hands-on experience in Quantum Information Science and Engineering (QISE) as well as a stipend and other support for the students. Most importantly, the REU allows the students to work on specific projects under the guidance of research mentors. The summer program also provides opportunities for professional development in the form of seminars, workshops, and social activities.
The summer program ends on Friday, August 9, with student presentations from 10 am to 3 pm at the Grand Challenges Research Building, 1st floor. All faculty, staff, and students, as well as community members are invited to attend and hear more about these exciting projects.
This year, the students at the Arizona REU program participated in a variety of quantum-related, hands-on research projects with Matt Eichenfield, SPIE Endowed Chair in Optical Sciences and Professor of Optical Sciences, and Chaohan Cui, CQN Testbed Manager. Cui oversaw three projects: Optical Design Research related to the CQN Testbed, coding and electrical engineering research also associated with the CQN Testbed, and Optimization and Control for Quantum Enhanced Optical Communication Systems. Eichenfield led a project on Integrated Photonics. Through this immersive experience in cutting-edge quantum research, the students are equipped with valuable technical and practical skills while also giving them a look at what a degree in Quantum Information Science and Engineering would look like.
Congratulations to all the students on completing their summer projects!