Massachusetts Institute of Technology is taking a quantum leap.
MIT on Monday announced the launch of the MIT Quantum Initiative, also called QMIT. The initiative is a university-wide effort to use quantum technology to address challenges in a variety of fields like science, technology, life sciences, health care and national security.
The university plans to establish a home for the initiative on-campus for academic, public and private-sector collaboration. The initiative will work with the U.S. government and MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory, a federally-funded research and development center focused on using advanced technologies to address national security issues.
There will be “more to share” on the initiative’s physical home in the coming months, Ian Waitz, MIT’s vice president for research, said during the initiative’s launch event.
Quantum technology uses principles of quantum mechanics, which is the branch of physics dealing with extremely small objects like atoms and subatomic particles. Waitz noted a fast pace of discovery and innovation of quantum technologies has brought the whole field to an “inflection point.”
The initiative, which will be led by faculty director Danna Freedman, is also part of MIT president Sally Kornbluth’s slate of strategic initiatives.
“There isn’t a more important technological field right now than quantum with its enormous potential for impact on both fundamental research and practical problems,” Kornbluth said during the event. “...QMIT will help us to ask the right questions, identify the most critical problems and create a roadmap for developing quantum solutions that are both transformative and accessible.”
The initiative comes as state leaders strive to solidify Massachusetts as a global leader in quantum technology.
“Quantum is everywhere. It’s foundational,” said Gov. Maura Healey, who joined the initiative’s launch event. “And so the work that you’re going to do is going to be transformative across the board.”
Sen. Barry Finegold, Senate chair of the Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies, agreed with Healey that the initiative is important for helping establish the state as an industry leader.
”This is the future,“ Finegold told the News Service. ”It’s going to solve a lot of problems. It’s going to help us figure out how to cure diseases, how to do things like deliver packages quicker and more efficiently.“
Healey and Finegold said the state wants to partner on initiatives like QMIT.
“These are the kinds of partnerships that my administration, as I say, has been about supporting and cheering on,” she said. “So we’re here to support.”
Last year, Healey and lawmakers agreed to a $100 million investment to create a Massachusetts AI Hub, which Healey’s office said would “facilitate the application of artificial intelligence across the state’s ecosystem.”
In October, the state allocated about $47 million for the Massachusetts Strategic Hub for Innovation Exchange and Leadership in Defense, or SHIELD. This is meant to boost Massachusetts’ defense industry with the help of in-state technology innovations, including quantum.
In 2024, Healey’s administration also awarded almost $5 million to establish the country’s first Quantum Computing Complex at the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center in Holyoke.
A 2023 report from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative found the state is a “global hub” for quantum computing with many academic groups, including MIT, and companies working to commercialize quantum findings. The report found there are 49 companies focused on quantum computing in the state and 131 research groups across 14 universities studying quantum technologies.
“I know that QMIT is going to add rocket fuel to what Massachusetts innovation engines have been doing,” Healey said. “...This is mission driven innovation. It’s critical to our economy. It’s critical to our country.”
