UNSW CQC2T Open Day

On the 9th of August, six PLC students including myself were invited to UNSW for the first-ever Quantum Computing Centre open day. At this event, we were very fortunate to have met Professor Michelle Simmons (Australian of the Year 2018), who presented a stimulating and inspiring talk on her work building quantum computers; and Eddie Woo, who exposed us to the mind-blowing beauty of mathematics.

Through various workshops with titles such as “Silicon Full Clean” and “Liquid Nitrogen in Action”, we were shown the difficulties in handling silicon chips and gained a better understanding of the effect of nitrogen in cooling down its surroundings, something crucial if people were to operate the quantum computers free from the atoms’ background vibration noise.

Afterwards, the six of us were also taken around the Quantum Computation Centre for a guided tour. While touring the labs, we were able to visit where the chips were made, cleaned and kept. We learnt about the science behind quantum computing as well as the exciting advancements being made by Australians in the field. On top of this, we were told about how quantum computing could revolutionise drug design (computer modelling of chemicals), weather forecasting, self-driving vehicles, artificial intelligence and more.

At the end of the day, the CQC2T Open Day was an extraordinary visit to say the least! Personally speaking, this has definitely been an informative and exciting event to experience firsthand the beauty of what STEM can accomplish.