Quantum User Group (QUG) Monthly BYO Lunch and Learn - August

NCSA, in collaboration with IQUIST, invites you to the monthly Quantum User Group gatherings for the campus community.

 The Quantum User Group (QUG) is being formed to bring together several efforts that have been underway and to raise awareness of activities of which members of the campus community may wish to take advantage. The QUG creates a forum for interaction and information sharing in order to facilitate growing the local community of researchers with interest in quantum computing and raise awareness about emerging quantum computing capabilities and for those exploring the use of hybrid classical/quantum computing to share their experiences--both successes and challenges-with others. 

We encourage researchers with challenging research problems that can potentially benefit from quantum computing along with those who are curious about this to help determine the potential for benefiting your research to participate.  Graduate students and postdocs affiliated with research in classical as well as quantum computing and all campus community members interested in quantum computing are also encouraged to attend.

Agenda:

We have invited Laura Schulz from Argonne National Laboratory to present "From Quantum Processor to Scientific Resource: The Missing Middle of QHPC"

Laura Schulz is Quantum Innovation Lead at the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility, where she leads the integration of quantum computing into HPC and AI infrastructure for scientific computing. Her work focuses on the systems, software, and operational foundations required to make quantum processors practical components of advanced computing environments, including heterogeneous system architecture, workflow orchestration, portable interfaces, and end-to-end HPC–AI–quantum workflows.

Before joining Argonne, she served as Head of the Quantum Computing and Technologies Department at the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre and as Principal Investigator for EuroHPC’s Euro-Q-Exa project. In these roles, she helped shape quantum–HPC integration across European research infrastructure, system procurement, software initiatives, and user programs.

 Abstract:

Advances in quantum hardware are necessary, but they are not sufficient to make quantum computing a practical scientific resource. Between the quantum processor and scientific discovery lies a “missing middle” of system software, control, orchestration, resource management, interfaces, telemetry, and facility operations.

This talk examines quantum–HPC integration as a heterogeneous systems challenge. It will focus on what must be built around the quantum processor to support reliable quantum–classical workflows, how those workflows may fit within existing HPC and AI environments, and how the needs of different users—from domain scientists and algorithm developers to quantum software experts and facility operators—shape the resulting architecture.

Rather than proposing a complete quantum supercomputer blueprint, the talk identifies the key systems and operational questions that will determine whether quantum processors remain specialized experimental devices or become trusted components of advanced scientific computing infrastructure.