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Prof Gao Weibo is combining science and engineering to advance the event of quantum science and know-how.
.jpg?sfvrsn=6ad75ceb_1 "Prof Gao Weibo (NTU Singapore)")
Quantum computer systems are poised to rework how we remedy humanity’s largest challenges, performing calculations that may overwhelm the quickest conventional computer systems.
The problem now lies in scaling them up to allow them to deal with sophisticated real-world computations, moderately than remoted mathematical issues.
If that is achieved, we may usher within the subsequent scientific industrial revolution, says Prof Gao Weibo, Chair of NTU’s School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering.
“While it’s possible to build a quantum computer now, it doesn’t mean it can be immediately useful. We still need a lot of engineering effort for that,” provides Prof Gao, who can be a professor at NTU’s School of Physical & Mathematical Sciences.
He explains that whereas basic science analysis can result in scientific discoveries, engineering analysis makes them sensible. “A combination of science and engineering is important for the development of quantum science and technology.”
He strives to grasp this on the NTU node of Singapore’s Centre for Quantum Technologies, the place he brings collectively experience from the University’s College of Engineering, College of Computing & Data Science, and School of Physical & Mathematical Sciences.
With 20 years of expertise in quantum data sciences, Prof Gao additionally contributes to the sphere of quantum supplies. For instance, he has revealed analysis on utilizing a lot thinner supplies to produce linked pairs of photons that might probably function quantum bits – the fundamental models that enable quantum computer systems to carry out advanced calculations.
Another of his breakthroughs sheds light on a hard-to-measure, invisible property of supplies that influences how their electrons transfer and reply. Called the quantum metric, it impacts how simply electrons journey by way of a fabric, much like how the smoothness and steepness of a street have an effect on how automobiles on it transfer.
Prof Gao’s workforce detected the quantum metric instantly in an actual materials for the primary time. The findings, revealed in Nature, have implications for growing novel quantum supplies for sensors, transducers and energy-harvesting gadgets.
His accomplishments haven’t gone unnoticed. In 2017, he gained Singapore’s Young Scientist Award on the President’s Science & Technology Awards, Singapore’s prime accolades for analysis and innovation. A yr later, he was named an Asia Pacific Innovator Under 35 by MIT Technology Review.
In 2024, Prof Gao was awarded an inaugural endowed professorship by Germany’s non-profit Dieter Schwarz Foundation, which can be funding the Quantum Sovereignty & Resilience programme that he leads at NTU’s School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering.
Under the programme, he research how quantum applied sciences can strengthen encryption and shield Internet-connected gadgets from hacking in a future the place quantum computer systems may swiftly break present digital safety measures.
“The professorship is a recognition of our work at NTU and provides us resources to recruit young talent to help move our research forward,” he says. “Small wonders in quantum devices can have a huge impact. We invite more young talent to explore this wonderland with us.”
The article appeared first in NTU’s analysis & innovation journal Pushing Frontiers (issue #26, May 2026).