Your Chance to Help the EdQuantum Project Develop a Curriculum for Training Quantum Technicians

One of the common themes we are hearing at every quantum conference these days is the criticality of developing a quantum workforce so that we get the most advantage out of quantum technology as soon as we can. Although a number of good training programs have been started, one area that hasn't received as much attention is the development two-year programs for quantum technicians who could potentially perform many of the activities that would have to be otherwise need to be done by individuals with full undergraduate or graduate level degrees. Appropriately utilizing these quantum technicians could significantly expand the availability of human resources that are needed to build, deploy and use quantum technology.

Recognizing this, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) has provided a grant to the Indian River State College to create the EdQuantum program for training quantum technicians. The goal of this program is to develop a "Hybrid Curriculum for Upskilling of Photonics Technicians in Advanced Optics, Spectroscopy and Quantum Research Enabled Technologies". This team has decades of experience in training technicians and laser & optics technologies for the photonics industry and believe they can use similar approaches for training technicians in quantum technology.

Here's how you can help. The first steps for this program is to take an industry survey from industry of those skills they consider important for a quantum technician role. They are seeking input from quantum industry, academia, and other stakeholders about the skills and competencies that a future quantum technician should possess in order to support the development and commercialization of the Quantum Revolution 2.0 products. The program has create a short survey which one should be able to complete in 15-20 minutes with questions from five sections and are requesting anyone who can provide some insights into these needs fill out the survey.

1. Section 1. PREREQUISITE KNOWLEDGE OF OPTICS AND PHOTONICS - 5 questions

2. Section 2. FUNDAMENTALS OF QUANTUM MECHANICS - 4 questions

3. Section 3. QUANTUM HARDWARE - 8 questions

4. Section 4. QUANTUM INFORMATION THEORY - 4 questions

5. Section 5. FUNDAMENTALS OF SPECTROSCOPY - 10 question

So for those who are able, we urge you to take the time to complete the survey since it will benefit the entire quantum industry as well as yourself if you seek to hire one of these individuals in the future. For more details about the EdQuantum program, you can visit their website here and to find out more about the survey and to get started filling it out, you can visit a web page here.

November 10, 2021