Historically Black Alabama A&M University has joined a cohort of several universities and private industry partners as a founding member of the Southeastern Quantum Collaborative (SQC), a regional initiative designed to accelerate the advancement and application of quantum information science and technology across the Southeastern United States.
Led by the College of Science at the University of Alabama at Huntsville, the collaborative also includes IBM and Davidson Technologies, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, IonQ, and Leidos. Together, these partners will leverage the region’s concentration of cleared defense infrastructure, advanced missile defense expertise, and strong base of prime contractors to help transition quantum research into practical, field-ready capabilities. Initial focus areas include quantum sensing, communications and networking, and quantum computation and algorithms.
As a founding member, Alabama A&M University will contribute faculty expertise, research capacity, and student talent to the collaborative, allowing the HBCU to participate in cutting-edge discovery and create new opportunities for students and faculty.
“The faculty in the College of Engineering, Technology, and Physical Sciences is actively involved in quantum research, including studying quantum effects on black hole singularities and radiation, developing new cosmological models, and examining how quantum phenomena influence the performance of superconducting qubits,” said the college’s dean Zhengtao Deng. “As a founding member of SQC, the college will expand research and educational opportunities and, most importantly, prepare our students in the rapidly evolving field of quantum computing.”
