The Superposition Guy's Podcast

Catherine Vollgraff Heidweiller, product manager at Google Quantum AI, is interviewed by Yuval Boger. Catherine describes the development of full-stack quantum computing, the importance of their 2019 quantum supremacy milestone, Google’s product focus, and the early customers they work with. We discuss the evaluation of quantum usefulness, their error correction roadmap, the intersection of quantum computing and AI, the societal responsibilities of quantum development, and much more.

Thomas Ehmer from Merck KGaA is interviewed by Yuval Boger. Thomas discusses the rapid advancements in quantum computing architectures, recent breakthroughs in logical qubits, and quantum communication protocols. He describes potential quantum applications in logistics optimization and material sciences, highlighting collaborative efforts within initiatives like QUTAC. Thomas contemplates the necessity of in-house quantum computing resources, reflects on Germany's national investment in quantum technology, and much more. This episode was recorded in Oct '23

Yonatan Cohen, co-founder and CTO of Quantum Machines, is interviewed by Yuval Boger. They explore Quantum Machines' role in the quantum computing ecosystem, focusing on developing control electronics for quantum systems, the transition from academic to commercial customers, and the partnership with NVIDIA for enhanced computational capabilities. They also discuss Quantum Machines' contribution to establishing a quantum computing center in Israel, the integration of quantum and classical computing, and much more

Albert  Lehmeyer, a career consultant and headhunter is interviewed by Yuval Boger. They discuss the increasing competition for quantum talent, the geopolitical challenges affecting workforce development, and the need for more quantum awareness and education. They also discuss the salary gap between quantum and AI, advice on university education for quantum careers, the growing demand for quantum computer operators, and much more.

Nikolaj Zinner, co-founder of Kvantify, is interviewed by Yuval Boger. Kvantify focuses on leveraging quantum computing for real-world applications, notably in optimization and computational drug discovery, through a unique algorithm, fast VQE, that efficiently calculates small molecules. Despite challenges in scaling and skepticism around variational algorithms, Nikolaj is optimistic about the field's potential. He describes a pragmatic approach to technology selection, anticipates a gradual advancement in quantum computing, potentially marked by breakthroughs in encryption or efficient problem-solving algorithms, and much more.

A team of undergraduates who excelled at MIT's iQuHack Quantum Hackathon are interviewed by Yuval Boger. They discuss their journey, the challenge they tackled—optimizing the "maximum independent set problem" on a quantum computer for machine learning applications—and their personal backgrounds and aspirations in quantum computing. They all exhibit a shared interest in leveraging quantum computing to solve complex problems and reflect on mentorship, teamwork, future career paths, and much more.

Daniel Volz and Enrique (Kike) Solano from Kipu Quantum are interviewed by Yuval Boger. They discuss their focus on achieving quantum advantage, the significant progress they are seeing, their hardware-dependent approach and application-specific strategies. Daniel and Kike predict that optimization and machine learning will be among the first areas to demonstrate practical quantum advantage, describe their geopolitical approach, and much more.

Florian Neukart, Chief Product Officer of Terra Quantum, discusses quantum technologies, TQ42 software platform for accessible quantum computing, room-temperature superconductivity in graphite, optimization of quantum algorithms, hybrid algorithms in AI, and potential of real quantum hardware.

Suvi Lampila and Miikka Sainio from SSH Communications Security, a European cyber defense company, are interviewed by Yuval Boger. SSH, known for inventing the SSH protocol, focuses on secure communication and access management. They discusses SSH's efforts in integrating post-quantum cryptography into their products, highlighting the launch of their quantum-safe solutions, elaborate on the challenges of updating operational technology for quantum safety and the importance of pragmatic solutions. They emphasize the need for market education on PQ, the urgency of preparing for quantum threats, their concerns about the future impact of quantum computing on security, and much more

Niccolo Somaschi, CEO of Quandela, is interviewed by Yuval Boger. Niccolo describes the company's approach to quantum computing, emphasizing the use of photonics and semiconductor technologies to manipulate photonic qubits. He highlights Quandela's focus on building commercially useful quantum computers, the development of a unique programming framework for transforming gate-based circuits into photonic operations, the deployment of their 6-qubit processor, the challenges for scaling photonic quantum computers, and much more.