UA World Quantum Day 2026

 

 

 

John Schaibley, Associate Professor of Physics and Optical Sciences, and Office of Research and Partnerships Quantum Fellow, hosted a World Quantum Day celebration on April 14. This day celebrates quantum research and technology and is held on April 14 since Planck's constant is ~ 4.14 *10 ^-15 eV s.

 

The celebration included a guest speaker from a leading quantum computing company, Quantinuum and a panel discussion with UA faculty. The guest speaker, Dr. Brian Neyenhuis, Senior Engineering Director of Cloud Operations, Quantinuum, gave a keynote talk entitled “QUANTUM COMPUTING: Solving Problems by Shooting Atoms with Lasers,” where he discussed a approach to quantum computing based on trapped ions controlled with laser pulses.

 

The keynote was followed by a panel discussion with Brian LeRoy, Professor of Physics and Associate Dean for the College of Science, Narayanan Rengaswamy, Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Kanu Sinha, Assistant Professor, Optical Sciences and joint faculty in Physics. Panelists shared their thoughts on how quantum ideas are shaping the future of computing, communication, and sensing. Students, faculty and industry guests enjoyed a catered reception following the panel discussion.