BOULDER, Colo. — Colorado is already a hub for quantum technology, which could completely transform computers to solve problems like we’ve never done before.
A new facility in Boulder promises to be a place where this technology can take off.
Scientists are manipulating particles smaller than an atom to build devices and computers faster and more precisely than ever before. Scientists say the technology could one day detect diseases in a person’s breath or send data that cannot be hacked.
Gov. Jared Polis is among those optimistic about quantum technology.
“It will benefit every American, every person in the world as a consumer,” he said, referring to technological as well as economic benefits.
“Already 3,000 (quantum) jobs in Colorado, but it could be 30,000, 300,000 jobs in 10 years,” Polis told Denver7 Wednesday night. “Only about 15 percent of jobs will be advanced degrees. These are jobs in the manufacturing sector. These are welding jobs. These will be jobs that many Coloradans with different skills can do, and that will pay well.
- Watch Denver7’s full interview with Governor Jared Polis in the video player below
Polis discusses new 13,000 square foot quantum facility in east Boulder: full interview
Funded by $74 million in refundable state tax creditsa new Quantum incubator is now operational in Boulder. It is a collaboration between the University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado State University, the Colorado School of Mines and Elevate Quantum, a coalition of 120 organizations.
The 13,000 square foot facility also aims to provide a foundation for start-ups to thrive and begin to develop technology in a way that we can use in everyday life.
“This space provides that meeting place and provides the environment needed to really advance these technologies,” said Massimo Ruzzene, senior vice chancellor for research and innovation at CU Boulder. “We currently know the (quantum) advantages. We just need to free them.
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But tech giants have tempered their expectations for quantum computing.
This week, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said quantum computers are more than a decade away from mass appeal. Denver7 asked Polis and Ruzzene if they were right to be skeptical.
“So it’s not something that in two years will become the dominant technology in computer processing,” Polis responded. “In 10 to 15 years it will be, but its market share is already increasing.”
“I think maybe quantum computing, sure, that (the timeline) may be true, but other (quantum) technologies, like I said, could see companies pop up, you know, in the next few years, and this place will be the It’s a place where these technologies can take off,” Ruzzene said.
The Boulder Quantum Incubator is the second quantum facility in Colorado to be announced in recent months, following a Quantum Technology Park in Arvada which came to fruition after the selection of Elevate Quantum for more than $40 million in funding of the federal Economic Development Administration.
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