Falling Walls Falling Walls Science Summit 2023

Falling Walls Circle Plenary Table

Perspectives and Challenges in Quantum Computing

Juan Ignacio Cirac, Horst Weiss, Sabrina Maniscalco, Andreas Wallraff, Jan-Martin Wiarda

2023 Circle Plenary Tables

Perspectives and Challenges in Quantum Computing – Falling Walls Circle Plenary Table 2023

Quantum computing has emerged as a revolutionary technology that promises to transform various fields, from drug discovery to optimization problems and cryptography to artificial intelligence. However, many of these applications are still in the distant future. This table will bring together leading experts from research and industry who will discuss the current state of the art in quantum computing and give a realistic assessment of the emerging applications.

Supported by Berlin Quantum Alliance, Hamburg Quantencomputing, Jülich Quantum Computing Alliance, Munich Quantum Valley, Quantum BW & Quantum Valley Lower Saxony.

Juan Ignacio Cirac

Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics

Juan Ignacio Cirac is director of the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics and honorary professor at the Technical University of Munich. He holds a PhD in Physics from the Complutense University of Madrid and is an expert in quantum technologies. He is a member of the Spanish, German and Bavarian academies of science and among the awards he has received are: Prince of Asturias, BBVA Frontiers of Knowledge, Wolf, Quantum Computing of the Micius Foundation, and the Benjamin Franklin, Max-Planck and Niels Bohr Medals.

Horst Weiss

BASF

Horst Weiß is Vice President Next Generation Computing at BASF in the Global Digital Services division. He started at BASF as a quantum chemist and worked for many years on multiscale modeling on high-performance computers. He is responsible for quantum computing at BASF. In 2020, Horst Weiß was appointed to the Expert Council for the creation of a national roadmap for quantum computing. He is active in many consortia and initiatives to bring quantum computing to the level of large-scale industrial application.

Sabrina Maniscalco

University of Helsinki

Sabrina is a Professor of Quantum Information, Computing and Logic at the University of Helsinki. She is CEO and co-founder of Algorithmiq Ltd, a startup focusing on quantum algorithms for Life Sciences. She has been working on Quantum Technology for over 20 years, focusing on noise in quantum devices, complex quantum systems and quantum simulations. Sabrina has coordinated several international and interdisciplinary projects and is recognized as one of the leading experts in Quantum Technologies.

Andreas Wallraff

ETH Zurich

Since January 2012 Andreas Wallraff is a Full Professor for Solid State Physics in the Department of Physics at ETH Zurich. His research is focused on the experimental investigation of quantum effects in superconducting electronic circuits for performing fundamental quantum optics experiments and for applications in quantum information processing. His group at ETH Zurich engages in research on micro and nano-electronics, also on hybrid quantum systems combining superconducting electronic circuits with semiconductor quantum dots, making use of fast and sensitive microwave techniques at ultra-low temperatures.

Jan-Martin Wiarda

Independent Journalist

Jan-Martin Wiarda is an independent journalist, political scientist and economist.

Studied in Munich, Chapel Hill (USA) and German School of Journalism. Has been an author at the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Brand Eins, the Financial Times Deutschland, Tagesspiegel and others. For 8 years has worked as an editor in Hamburg at ZEIT in the education department “Chancen” and for 3 years as Head of Communications at the Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft . Since 2015 has worked as  freelance journalist, author and moderator. In 2016 defended his dissertation at the HU Berlin.

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