Brisbane’s billion-dollar computer is coming. But first, a lab must be built
By Tony Moore
Beneath his casual cap, the mind of a gifted computer scientist is at work.
Pete Shadbolt, the self-declared son of two Greenpeace hippies, is one of the co-founders of PsiQuantum, the company building Australia’s first billion-dollar quantum computer near Brisbane’s airport.
The 37-year-old from Leeds earned a PhD in experimental quantum computing at the University of Bristol, and Britain’s Research Council declared him one of science’s rising stars in 2014.
Pete Shadbolt says the next few years are about gearing up before Brisbane’s quantum computer is operational.
A year later, he founded PsiQuantum with University of Queensland graduates Jeremy O’Brien and Terry Rudolph.
On Monday, the company announced it would build a quantum mechanics laboratory at Griffith University’s Nathan campus by 2025 to ready its staff, software and hardware systems to have the quantum computer operating by 2027.
The new laboratory would be the next part of PsiQuantum’s partnership with five Queensland universities announced in July, that would lead to a re-shaping of science, technology and university maths courses.
Some of the graduates would be part of the 400 specialist staff employed by PsiQuantum.
“Until at least 2027 we’re not going to have useful quantum computers,” Shadbolt said.
“For the next few years it’s about gearing up for that system in Brisbane. The type of thing that goes on in the lab is validating and developing the components that will go into the big machine, such as wafers of silicon or individual chips.
PsiQuantum co-founder and CEO Jeremy O’Brien is a University of Queensland graduate.Credit: Nine
“The lab will test them here and work out which parts of the system are working well and which parts are not ready.”
In May, Premier Steven Miles and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced their governments would each contribute $466.4 million in loans and equity to get PsiQuantum to build a fault-tolerant quantum computer.
The joint funding would mean PsiQuantum would be “responsible for securing additional funding to contribute towards the costs of building and upgrading the [computer]”, according to Queensland Treasury.
PsiQuantum has raised more than $US730 million to build the computer in Brisbane.
Laboratory staff would perform critical characterisation and calibration methods for PsiQuantum’s high-performance subsystems.
Other research applications would be in drug discovery, fuel sciences, complex fluid dynamics, and security and finance.
Geoff Pryde, the company’s senior director of technical partnerships, who is on leave from Griffith, said PsiQuantum was thrilled to be developing the new lab at Nathan as their operations continued to grow in Australia.
Griffith’s vice-chancellor, Professor Carolyn Evans, said the university was similarly excited about the partnership “and the opportunities it will bring for more Queensland students to build future-focused STEM careers”.
Griffith announced on Friday it would take over the Brisbane CBD’s heritage-listed Treasury Casino building, transforming it into a learning hub for its business, IT, and law faculties.
correction
An earlier version of this report said research at the Griffith laboratory would include analysis of how particles reacted to different atmospheric pressures under a changing climate. A PsiQuantum spokesperson said the climate applications were separate and not related to the laboratory at Griffith University.