Writers

Kristina Callaghan

Quantum Education & Workforce Development Program Manager

Kristina Callaghan is Quantum Education & Workforce Development Program Manager at Quantum Machines, where she builds industry-academia partnerships that give students hands-on experience with real quantum hardware before they graduate. She has led curriculum design across multiple levels — from a master’s-level quantum engineering course at the University of Oregon, to technician training at Central New Mexico Community College’s Quantum Learning Lab, to a workshop for City Colleges of Chicago students at the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering. Her work focuses on building the pipeline of quantum technicians and engineers the industry will need as quantum computing moves from research labs into commercial deployment.

Building Tomorrow’s Quantum Workforce, Today

By Kristina Callaghan, Quantum Education & Workforce Development Program Manager, Quantum Machines

“How do we best prepare the upcoming quantum workforce? What jobs will be in demand and what skills will be required? What can we do for the students of today so that they’ll be ready for the careers of tomorrow?“

These are the questions I am most often asked and on which I spend a significant amount of time researching. As quantum computing continues to move from research labs into data centers and commercial hubs, the need for people who can run, calibrate, and ultimately support this infrastructure increases. As it stands today, though, a significant workforce shortage is projected amongst roles that won’t require a PhD: namely, quantum technicians and engineers.

Quantum engineering in particular requires a skillset drawn from a variety of disciplines. A quantum engineer’s work spans across physics, electrical engineering, computer science, and, increasingly, software and control systems, yet very few degree programs currently prepare students effectively across all domains. Furthermore, many currently offered courses in quantum information science remain at a theoretical level with limited, if any, hands-on time working with real quantum hardware.

The lack of hands-on hardware access is a problem because the industry will need more than Ph.D. research physicists. It will need technicians who can maintain cryogenic systems, engineers who understand control electronics, and software developers who can write code that orchestrates a quantum processor. Every few months, a new report or research paper is released that further strengthens these claims and projections. Recently, the Chicago Quantum Exchange’s Advancing Together report [link: https://chicagoquantum.org/advancing-together-unified-strategy-scaling-midwest-quantum-talent] estimated that in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana alone, there could be up to 191,000 quantum jobs within the next decade, many of which would be obtainable without an advanced degree.

The work to prepare the workforce for tomorrow must begin today. We at Quantum Machines believe that stronger connections between industry and academia will be vital to ensuring that today’s training aligns with tomorrow’s industry needs. By partnering together, students can be afforded the opportunity to gain the experience with the tools they’ll use on the job well before graduation, thereby ensuring they start their careers with confidence.

What we can do today

Over the past year, we have put this belief into action through several partnerships ranging from master’s level curriculum to technician training, all of which I’m proud to have been able to support and help build.

At the University of Oregon, we worked with faculty to integrate industry-standard hardware and software into a master’s level quantum engineering course. [link: https://www.quantum-machines.co/resources/blog/from-classroom-to-cryostat-how-hands-on-quantum-control-is-training-the-next-generation/?utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=blast2] Students gained experience operating our OPX+ control hardware with code used by our Customer Success Physicists in the field. This partnership gave students the chance to run, calibrate, and troubleshoot a real quantum system using the same tools they’d encounter on the job.

At Central New Mexico Community College’s Quantum Learning Lab, we designed several modules that introduced future quantum technicians to the necessary hardware that comprises a quantum computer and the various experiments required to calibrate it. [link: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/rashap_special-thanks-to-kristina-callaghan-from-activity-7454990961396453376-v8TN?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAACezlj4BoMAJLZ5xj88d_jcoeIcnEwOr-eM] Even without any prior coding experience, students were able to run these calibration experiments using our QUAlibrate software on real qubits at the IQCC [link: https://i-qcc.com/], the quantum computing center operated and managed by Quantum Machines. This project demonstrably showed that quantum control and calibration can be made accessible and done without requiring a Ph.D.

At the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, working alongside the Chicago Quantum Exchange, we helped design a pilot program that brought City Colleges of Chicago students into a dedicated Quantum Education Laboratory for a focused workshop on quantum control. [link: https://pme.uchicago.edu/news-events/news/getting-future-quantum-ready] Across three Saturdays, students attended sessions covering both theory and hands-on practice using our OPX+ control hardware. This program was tied explicitly to workforce planning for the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, where Quantum Machines already operates a quantum computing hub.

What’s next

All of these programs were designed to support the quantum technician and engineer talent pipelines and provide students with hands-on experience on often inaccessible industry-grade quantum hardware. In each of these collaborations, we’ve worked to build something sustainable and reusable instead of a one-off exercise. Now, we are actively looking for more partners to expand this work. If you are interested in exploring what this could look like, please get in touch; let’s work together to build tomorrow’s workforce, today.

If you are interested in partnering together to make hands-on quantum education more accessible, please get in touch! Contact Kristina Callaghan at kristina.callaghan@quantum-machines.co to learn more.