The two children had never seen anything quite like it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s electricity that gives to the whole entire airport!\u201d guessed 8-year-old Ishaan Jain.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt should spin,\u201d added his sister Siya, 4.<\/p>\n
Ishaan and Siya were two of the thousands of travelers walking through Chicago O\u2019Hare International Airport who recently got an up-close view of the future in United Airlines\u2019 Terminal 1. The young pair marveled over the golden, sparkling internal electronics of a model quantum computer\u2014a technology that is poised to change the world.<\/p>\n
The display is part of the new, yearlong\u00a0\u201cImagining the Future: An Encounter with Quantum Technologies\u201d<\/a>\u00a0exhibition featuring a model IBM Quantum System One quantum computer and\u00a0a website<\/a> designed by students from the University of Chicago. The exhibit was unveiled on Sept. 25 and was created by the\u00a0Scientists, Technologists, and Artists Generating Exploration (STAGE) Center<\/a> with\u00a0IBM<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n “Imagine a future in which it\u2019s possible to detect disease in a single cell, before it spreads, and to use a computer to determine the precise drug to treat that disease,\u201d said UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (UChicago PME)\u00a0Prof. Nancy Kawalek,<\/a>\u00a0founder and director of STAGE. \u201cImagine a future in which your personal information is secure, and your financial information can’t be hacked\u2014a future in which science has advanced to the point where these things, and more, will be possible.\u201d<\/p>\n The exhibit is buoyed by an Innovation Fund grant from the\u00a0American Physical Society<\/a>\u00a0in honor of UNESCO\u2019s\u00a0International Year of Quantum Science and Technology<\/a>, with space generously donated by\u00a0United<\/a>. It symbolizes the Chicago region\u2019s\u00a0expanding leadership role<\/a>\u00a0in quantum education, research and workforce development.<\/p>\n \u201cQuantum computers work in a fundamentally different way than today\u2019s classical machines, opening the door to breakthroughs in areas like drug discovery, energy and optimization,\u201d said Hanhee Paik, IBM\u2019s director of Quantum Algorithms Centers and Quantum-Centric Supercomputing Partnerships. \u201cAt IBM, we are at the forefront of advancing this technology and its ecosystem, and we\u2019re excited to share a piece of that journey here in Chicago as we enter the era of quantum advantage and push toward fault-tolerant quantum computers.\u201d<\/p>\n Quantum technologies are projected to create up to 191,000 jobs and drive as much as $80 billion in economic impact for the Illinois-Wisconsin-Indiana region by 2035, according to an analysis by Boston Consulting Group for the Chicago Quantum Exchange.<\/p>\n \u201cAs Chicago\u2019s hometown airline, United is proud to host this new, captivating exhibit that shines a spotlight on our city\u2019s role as a global hub for quantum computing,\u201d said Omar Idris, United’s vice president of O’Hare International Airport. \u201cBringing this display to O’Hare gives United travelers a unique glimpse into the groundbreaking innovation that’s putting Illinois at the forefront of the future.\u201d<\/p>\n O\u2019Hare is one of the world\u2019s busiest airports, processing 80 million passengers in 2024 alone. And United\u2019s Terminal 1 is the busiest terminal in that airport, with United operating more than 500 daily departures to over 200 destinations.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a great center stage for the STAGE Center, a full-scale laboratory embedded within UChicago PME. The center creates and develops new\u00a0film<\/a>, theatre,\u00a0games<\/a>, exhibits and\u00a0other artistic endeavors<\/a>\u00a0inspired by science and technology.<\/p>\n Quantum researcher and recent UChicago graduate Avery Linder was part of the STAGE Center team that designed\u00a0the accompanying website<\/a>\u00a0to walk visitors through a quantum computer\u2019s inner workings and explain this mind-bending technology.<\/p>\n \u201cThe most exciting part of the project for me was figuring out how to explain quantum in a very accessible, non-scary way,\u201d Linder said. \u201cThat\u2019s important not just for the quantum community but for everyone who could potentially be interested in science and not know that it\u2019s within their grasp.\u201d<\/p>\n Rather than dive headfirst into the complicated mathematics, engineering and computer science that make up the quantum world, the team explains quantum through metaphors, such as spinning coins that land the same in Chicago and Paris. They also use comparisons, like the temperature inside a quantum computer\u2019s dilution refrigerator versus Antarctica, and other language that will speak to\u2014not down to\u2014quantum-curious fliers.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe spent a lot of time thinking about analogies or examples that people would relate to, steering away from scientific jargon the general public might not be familiar with,\u201d said team member Charlotte Quintanar.\u00a0<\/p>\n In addition to Linder, team members Rohan Venkat and Reet Santosh Mhaske were on hand for the quantum computer\u2019s unveiling in a central, eye-catching location in the busy terminal. Quintanar and teammate Jeffrey Li were unable to attend their work\u2019s debut.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is incredible. I love the way it looks,\u201d Venkat said. \u201cI think this is like a perfect spot to put it.\u201d<\/p>\n Kawalek said the collaborative spirit that built this exhibit is the same spirit that\u2019s building Chicago into a global quantum powerhouse.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis innovation is part of our regional identity because of the strength we have here in the Chicago area\u2014world-class universities, government labs and industry,\u201d Kawalek said. \u201cTheir partnerships are what’s driving this part of the country in quantum science and technology.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cImagining the Future\u201d will be on display for the next year in United’s Terminal 1, Concourse B, near the Field Museum dinosaur. But the STAGE Center’s\u00a0website that accompanies the exhibit<\/a> will continue to provide an engaging experience for those not flying any time soon.<\/p>\n Learn more about how the STAGE Center bridges the gap between science and art<\/a>.<\/p>\n