Harrisburg University to host Quantum Computing Seminar Featuring NASA Researcher

HARRISBURG, Pa. - Feb. 3, 2016 - PRLog -- Harrisburg University of Science and Technology will welcome a leading expert on quantum computing for a special lecture set for 11:30 a.m., March 2, 2016, at the campus.

Dr. Davide Venturelli, science operations manager at the Quantum Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at NASA Ames Research Center, will speak on quantum computers.  The event is being offered at no-charge but an RSVP is required. RSVP via email at CONNECT@HarrisburgU.edu

Quantum computers could exploit the laws of quantum physics to process information fundamentally faster than digital computers, but they are very difficult to manufacture. According to Venturelli, Quantum Annealing is arguably the most promising approach to near-term quantum computation, as it is within the reach of current technology and programmable commercial devices with more than 1000 quantum bits (qubits) have been manufactured, indeed.

“The seminar will introduce quantum computation and review the theory behind this approach, highlighting the theoretical challenges, and will discuss the current status of research that motivated recently an unprecedented amount of investments from governments and the private sector,” says Venturelli.  Experimental results from the NASA Quantum AI Lab team on existing quantum annealers (D-Wave Two and 2X chips) tested on NP-hard applied combinatorial problems in scheduling, network optimization and statistical physics will be showcased. This will provide an outlook on what is still required for this technology to compete or add value to current classical high-performance computing approaches.

Venturelli graduated from Ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon and obtained his Ph.D. in Numerical Simulations of the Condensed Matter at the International School for Advanced Studies in Trieste and in Nanophysics at the Universite de Grenoble. He worked as a post-doc at Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, Italy, in the Condensed Matter and Information group (CMI). Venturelli is currently Science Operations Manager at the Quantum Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at NASA Ames Research Center, invested for the Research Institute of Advanced Computer Science (RIACS) in research projects dealing with the non-equilibrium physics of statistical models relevant for quantum annealing and quantum computation,  and how these models reflect practically across different implementation technologies or computational strategies. His applied focus in quantum optimization is in complex scheduling, telecommunication networks, and robotics/distributed AI, also in collaborations with the private sector.

The event is offered at no-charge.   Harrisburg University is located at 326 Market Street in Harrisburg, PA.