nature isn’t classical, dammit, and if you want to make a simulation of nature, you’d better make it quantum mechanical
— Richard Feynman in his seminal lecture Simulating Physics with Computers, 1981
In 2024, there are many reasons to be interested in quantum computing: unlocking an era of breakthroughs in the chemical and material sciences, the cybersecurity implications of Shor’s algorithm, an international economy that continuously creates hype cycles around emerging technologies, and the list goes on.
If you’re anything like me, you want in.
Unfortunately, if you’re anything like me, you also don’t exactly have a PhD in physics.
Thankfully, the industry is reaching a point where it can support a growing handful of non-academic jobs. The figure keeps getting thrown around that Colorado will support an additional 10,000 quantum jobs in the next decade or so. Verifying the claims of politicians seeking federal funds is beyond me, but I do buy into the general premise.
If the time to get into quantum isn’t now, it’s soon.
That’s why I’ve created Emtangled.net (tagline: quantum readiness for the rest of us). In the not-too-distant future, these companies will scale up and start hiring software developers, marketers, and HR professionals. Some of them already have (see below). Emtangled’s goal is to help everyday people like you and me feel comfortable and confident stepping into this complex industry.
Forgive the long-winded intro. I value your time and aim to keep these posts concise. Let’s get into it.
Elevate Quantum
Elevate Quantum is an industry consortium representing all the quantum companies, government agencies, venture capitalists, university programs, and other stakeholders in the Mountain West region. For our purposes, they’re a great place to start learning about the quantum industry if you live in Colorado, Wyoming, or New Mexico. If you don’t already know, the Mountain West region, and Boulder specifically, is a great place to do quantum computing. I might write a future post on why, but for now, Elevate Quantum produced a pretty good video about it.
Visualizing the Boulder/Denver Quantum Companies
Elevate Quantum’s list of companies is great, but I’m a visual thinker. Maybe you are too. That’s why I created this map, which shows the general locations of all the companies in the Boulder/Denver region.
On this map, Boulder is the city in the top left that’s completely covered in logos. There’s also some industry presence in the cities of Louisville, Broomfield, Golden, and Denver. I couldn’t find the US headquarters for Vexlum or PMG Quantum Advisors. Also, I could only get a city name or zip code for some companies. Hopefully, this map will improve over time as I build relationships with more people in the industry.
Who’s Hiring in June
Because this blog is made for people looking to move into the industry, it will be helpful to keep tabs on where the jobs are. This will be a monthly segment to do just that. Eventually, I’d also like to report on funding and jobs outside Colorado. For now, here are all the open positions at Elevate Quantum companies, according to LinkedIn, on June 24th, 2024.
| Company | Job Listings |
|---|---|
| Quantinuum | 68 |
| Maybell Quantum | 7 |
| Form Factor* | 5 |
| Atom Computing | 2 |
| Longpath Technologies | 2 |
| Mesa Quantum | 2 |
| Infleqtion | 1 |
| All Others | 0 |
*Form Factor has 93 job listings, but most focus on their microchips business. I’ve filtered my search to their Boulder office, which appears to focus on quantum computing.
Thank you so much for reading my first post on Emtangled.net! Don’t hesitate to contact me with questions, corrections, or suggestions for future topics.
Best of luck in your quantum journey,
– Emerson