IEEE Quantum Week

IEEE Quantum Week
Name	IEEE Quantum Week
Status	Active
Genre	Conference
Frequency	Annual
First	2019
Organizer	IEEE

IEEE Quantum Week is an annual conference series convened by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers to gather researchers, engineers, and industry stakeholders in the fields of quantum computing, quantum communication, quantum sensing, and quantum information science. The event integrates elements of technical conferences, industry exhibitions, and educational programs to accelerate translational research and commercialization across academia, industry, and government laboratories. IEEE Quantum Week acts as a nexus connecting participants from institutions such as MIT, Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, Harvard University, University of Oxford and national laboratories including National Institute of Standards and Technology, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory.

History

IEEE Quantum Week emerged from the consolidation of specialized IEEE meetings and international symposia in response to rapid advances in superconducting qubits and trapped-ion quantum computers. Early precursor events included gatherings associated with the IEEE International Conference on Quantum Computing and Engineering and workshops linked to the American Physical Society meetings and the Conference on Quantum Information Processing. The first editions featured participation from corporate teams at IBM, Google, Microsoft, Intel Corporation, and Rigetti Computing, alongside academic groups from Caltech, Cornell University, University of Waterloo, University of Cambridge, and ETH Zurich. Over successive years the program expanded to reflect breakthroughs such as demonstrations of quantum supremacy, advances in quantum error correction, and milestones in quantum networking exemplified by projects at Xanadu Quantum Technologies and Honeywell. The conference timeline parallels policy initiatives from agencies including the National Science Foundation, European Commission, Department of Energy, and national quantum initiatives in China and United Kingdom.

Organization and Sponsorship

IEEE Quantum Week is organized by multiple IEEE societies, notably the IEEE Computer Society, IEEE Photonics Society, IEEE Communications Society, and the IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society, often in collaboration with academic program committees from institutions such as Princeton University and University College London. Sponsorship has included corporate partners like Amazon Web Services, Google Quantum AI, IBM Research, Microsoft Quantum, Intel Labs, Quantinuum, and startups including IonQ, PsiQuantum, Rigetti, and D-Wave Systems. Funding and program support frequently involve research agencies such as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, European Research Council, Japan Science and Technology Agency, and philanthropic organizations including the Simons Foundation and Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Local host committees have been drawn from host cities such as San Francisco, Austin, Texas, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Singapore.

Conference Program and Tracks

The program typically comprises parallel tracks covering theory and experiment: quantum algorithms and quantum complexity theory sessions; quantum hardware tracks addressing superconducting circuits, trapped ions, photonic quantum computing, and topological qubits; applied tracks for quantum chemistry and quantum machine learning; and engineering tracks for cryogenics and control electronics. Additional tracks address quantum cryptography, quantum key distribution, quantum networks, and standards work involving organizations like International Telecommunication Union and National Institute of Standards and Technology. The program includes peer-reviewed paper presentations drawn from submissions vetted by committees with members from Bell Labs, IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, Microsoft Research, Google Research, X. Poster sessions often showcase work from graduate groups at Caltech, University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, University of Toronto, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Tsinghua University.

Keynote Speakers and Awardees

Keynote speakers have included prominent figures from academia, industry, and government such as leaders from IBM Research, Google Quantum AI, Microsoft Research, Nobel laureates affiliated with Harvard University and University of Oxford, directors from National Quantum Initiative offices, and chief scientists from Amazon Web Services. Awardees recognized at IEEE Quantum Week have received prizes for contributions in quantum error correction, quantum metrology, and quantum materials, with honorees drawn from MIT, Stanford University, University of Chicago, Max Planck Society, and Riken. Conference awards and recognition often intersect with honors like the Dirac Medal, Nobel Prize in Physics, and discipline-specific distinctions from the American Physical Society and Optica.

Workshops, Tutorials, and Competitions

Workshops and tutorials span hands-on training in programming frameworks such as Qiskit, Cirq, PennyLane, and Forest and cover experimental methodologies from labs at IBM Q Experience and IonQ. Specialized workshops focus on scalable fabrication at facilities like IMEC and CNRS cleanrooms, and on software stacks integrating contributions from Xanadu, Zapata Computing, and Rigetti. Competitions at the event include hackathons, quantum algorithm challenges linked to problems from NASA, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and industrial case studies from BASF and JP Morgan Chase, as well as student competitions sponsored by IEEE Young Professionals and regional chapters such as IEEE Vancouver Section.

Impact and Community Outreach

IEEE Quantum Week functions as a convening point influencing research agendas at universities such as University of Melbourne, Seoul National University, and Peking University, and shaping corporate roadmaps at Intel Corporation and Bosch. The conference supports workforce development through collaborations with training programs at Coursera, edX, and university summer schools affiliated with Perimeter Institute and Institute for Quantum Computing. Outreach initiatives include panels for policymakers from European Commission delegations, industry roundtables with representatives from Bank of America and Siemens, and public engagement events co-organized with museums like the Science Museum, London and the Exploratorium. The cumulative effect has been to accelerate translational projects linking fundamental results from Bell Labs, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics to commercial deployments and national innovation strategies.

Category:IEEE conferences Category:Quantum computing conferences