Examining the impact of the IBM-HBCU Quantum Center

Quantum Computing

WASHINGTON—Howard University undergraduate Victoria Adebayo may not have entered college with research experience in quantum computing, but that’s how she’s leaving it.

For two years, Victoria has been a student member of the IBM-HBCU Quantum Center, an initiative that aims to bring quantum computing education and research opportunities to students at historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs).

In a new video, we’re highlighting the Quantum Center’s impact and celebrating the achievements of students like Victoria, who stars alongside some of the IBM and HBCU leaders who played a critical role in the initiative’s founding and continued success.

This video also debuts the IBM-HBCU Quantum Center’s new visual identity, which was created by a team of Howard University design and physics students with design support from IBM’s Herman Colquhoun Jr., Michael Kriegshauser, and Brad Neil.

According to the American Institute of Physics, only 284 bachelor’s degrees in physics were awarded to Black U.S. citizens in the classes of 2017 and 2018 *combined.* By contrast, the IBM-HBCU Quantum Center has already directly engaged 50 post-secondary students at HBCUs in research projects across fields like quantum materials, quantum chemistry, and quantum computing.

The Quantum Center has also tapped more than 80 HBCU faculty members to participate in faculty development opportunities and serve as student mentors. And since the initiative’s founding, the total number of HBCU-affiliated users on IBM Quantum systems has grown more than seven-fold from fewer than 100 in 2020 to now well over 700 unique users.

^{— Source, images, and video: IBM}

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