User:Cbiddiscombe/Draft of IQC

The Institute for Quantum Computing, or IQC, located in Waterloo, Ontario, is an affiliate research institute of the University of Waterloo with a multidisciplinary approach to the field of quantum information processing.

IQC's Mission
The mission of the Institute for Quantum Computing is to develop and advance quantum information science and technology at the highest international level, through the collaboration of computer scientists, engineers, mathematicians and physical scientists.

The IQC has outlined its motivation on its website.

Strategic Objectives
The IQC has stated three strategic objectives:


 * 1) To establish Waterloo and Canada as the world centre of research in quantum technologies and their applications by bringing together the best researchers from mathematics, science and engineering.


 * 1) To attract the best students and postdoctoral researchers to engage in research activities that will significantly advance quantum information science, and to widely disseminate their results.


 * 1) To be an internationally respected source of knowledge, analysis and commentary on the state of quantum information processing.

History
In the fall of 1999, the University of Waterloo was exploring the possibility of expanding the quantum computing group started by mathematics professor Michele Mosca to include the physicist and quantum computing researcher Raymond Laflamme, potentially with the help of the newly established Canada Research Chair program. The initial concept was to also establish the theory of quantum information as an area of research at the Perimeter Instutute for Theoretical Physics.

While the Perimeter Institute was in the process of recruiting Laflamme, it became clear that it would be advantageous to develop a large-scale program in computer science and experimental physics to complement their research programs in theoretical physics. Discussions between Mike Lazaridis, president and co-CEO of Research in Motion (RIM), and University of Waterloo President David Lloyd Johnston led to the creation, in 2002, of the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) and the appointment of Laflamme as IQC's founding director. IQC was founded with a complement of five researchers from the University of Waterloo faculties of science and mathematics.

In 2005, IQC led the creation of QuantumWorks, an NSERC-funded national consortium of university, government and industry researchers committed to the development of practical applications of quantum information science and technology.

IQC is funded by contributions from the University of Waterloo, various government agencies at the provincial and federal levels and private donors, including $101 million from Mike and Ophelia Lazaridis and $50 million from Ontario's Ministry of Research and Innovation.

In its 2009 budget, the Canadian federal government allocated $50 million to IQC over five years through an Industry Canada grant.

Research
Research at IQC encompasses the physical sciences, mathematics and engineering from both theoretical and experimental perspectives. Research focus has two main directions: quantum computing, which concerns information processing; and quantum communication, which deals with the transmission of information.

Research interests
Principal investigators are listed under each area of research.

Algorithms and Protocols

 * Quantum metrology
 * Joseph Emerson
 * Michele Mosca
 * Kevin Resch
 * Quantum information theory
 * Debbie Leung

Laboratories and Groups

 * Quantum Optics – Studying the quantum nature of light
 * Kevin Resch
 * Integrated Quantum Optoelectronics (IQOL) – Characterization of superconducting and photonic quantum devices and circuits
 * Hamed Majedi
 * Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) – Quantum information processing by controlling nuclear spins
 * Raymond Laflamme
 * Quantum Spintronics – Controlling spin to encode qubits using quantum dots
 * Jonathan Baugh
 * Photon Entanglement Group – New sources of photonic entanglement and quantum key distribution
 * Superconducting Quantum Devices
 * Adrian Lupaşcu
 * Quantum Device Theory Group (collaboration with experimental labs) – Theoretical studies of physical devices governed by the laws of quantum physics (nanodevices)
 * Frank Wilhelm

Integration and Implementation

 * Quantum Key Distribution (QKD)
 * Thomas Jennewein
 * Norbert Lütkehnaus
 * Michele Mosca

Facilities
IQC is currently located in the Research Advancement Centre, located in the University of Waterloo’s Research & Technology Park.

The Institute's permanent home will be in the IQC building at the Mike and Ophelia Lazaridis Quantum-Nano Centre, currently under construction in a central location on the university’s main campus. On June 9, 2008, Mike Lazaridis, together with Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, UW President David Johnston and other guests officially broke ground on the $160 million project. When completed, the centre will consist of three buildings: one to house IQC, one for the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, and a clean fabrication and metrology suite to be shared between the two institutes. The budget for IQC's building is $80 million. It will house offices, laboratory space and areas for interaction among researchers. Construction on the QNC is scheduled for completion in 2011.

People
As of 2009, IQC’s research team consisted of 18 faculty members, 21 postdoctoral fellows and 63 students, both undergraduate research assistants and Master’s/doctoral candidates.

Faculty members have appointments in the departments of Physics & Astronomy, Combinatorics & Optimization, Applied Mathematics, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Chemistry, and the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo. Currently, four IQC faculty members hold Canada Research Chairs in various aspects of quantum information. IQC faculty and postdoctoral fellows also account for 11 of the 26 members of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research’s Quantum Information Processing Program. Four IQC faculty members also have associate membership at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics and another five are affiliate members. Eleven IQC faculty are QuantumWorks researchers and another eight faculty and one postdoctoral researcher are associate members.