A Day of Quantum Marks a Century
On September 19, Columbia welcomed speakers from industry and academia to share the latest news and innovations from the hundred-year-old field.
2025 marks the 100-year anniversary of the development of quantum mechanics, which underlies how our world works at the smallest of scales. Declared an International Year by the United Nations, Columbia brought together speakers from industry and academia on September 19 to share how this often counterintuitive field has shaped the world so far—and where things may be heading in the future.
The symposium was organized by Alexander Gaeta, David M. Rickey Professor of Applied Physics and Materials Science at Columbia and co-task lead of the Columbia Quantum Initiative.
“We wanted to bring the quantum community together to really showcase how Columbia is becoming a center for quantum research. We were pleased to host world-leading researchers for a fantastic series of talks," said Gaeta. "We won't wait another 100 years to do this again."
Over 150 Columbians and guests attended the symposium over the course of the day. The symposium featured industry speakers Mario Motta from IBM, Marissa Guistiana from Google DeepMind, Chris Monroe from IonQ/Duke, Vladan Vuletic from MIT/QuERA, and Mihai Vidrighin from PsiQuantum. Columbia faculty members Henry Yuen, Srivani Family Associate Professor of Computer Science, Sebastian Will, associate professor of physics, and Ana Asenjo Garcia, associate professor of physics, also spoke at the event.
The topics focused on quantum computing, including the hype and the hope behind these potentially disruptive devices, the emerging approaches to creating the quantum bits that will power them, and how information will look, be shared, and be safeguarded as quantum mechanics makes its way into its second century.
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Slide 1: Attendees chat with Marissa Guistiana from Google DeepMind
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Slide 2: Attendees chat with Chris Monroe from Duke/IonQ
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Slide 3: Michal Lipson, Eugene Higgins Professor of Electrical Engineering and Professor of Applied Physics, introduces Ana Asenjo Garcia
"This was a really interesting event that covered multiple disciplines from physics to computer science to math, but at a high enough level that you didn't need a deep background to understand the lectures," said PhD student Justin Beltran, who graduated from the School of General Studies over the summer.
"The symposium was an inspiring chance to hear diverse perspectives on the future of quantum science while celebrating the progress being made," said Columbia College senior Liv Shalom.