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Image generated using ChatGPT for illustration purposeBy Dr. David Awschalom
When I look out and see students in the audience, I can’t help but think back to my own student days.
And yes — I, too, was once a student.
But unlike many of you, I struggled a bit during my first semester in college. Not because of the coursework — but because I discovered something far more captivating: television.
Growing up, my parents kept a tight leash on screen time. But suddenly, I had freedom — and that’s when I stumbled upon reruns of the original Star Trek.
It was more than a show. It was a revelation.
Led by a courageous captain and a hyper-logical science officer, the Starship Enterprise wasn’t just exploring space — it was exploring possibility. Their tools — communicators, holograms, universal translators — looked like science fiction back then. Today, they’re everyday reality (well, except for teleporters… we’re working on it).
What fascinated me most wasn’t the technology. It was the mindset.
The embrace of uncertainty.
While our brains are wired to avoid the unknown — to fear ambiguity — the crew of the Enterprise ran toward it.
And somehow, that spoke to me deeply. I didn’t have the words for it back then, but I found uncertainty exciting. It represented potential.
Years later, I’d come to realize that uncertainty is not just the foundation of science — it’s the foundation of quantum physics.
1969: The Year the World Changed
The final episode of Star Trek aired in 1969 — a year that changed everything.
The Beatles gave their last concert on the rooftop of Apple Records.
The Boeing 747 took its first flight.
Hundreds of thousands gathered at Woodstock.
And Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the Moon.
But another, quieter event that same year would reshape the world in ways no one could imagine.
A group of engineers, funded by ARPA, linked two computers — one in Los Angeles and one in Palo Alto. They typed “LO”… and the system crashed.
An hour later, they tried again.
This time, they succeeded: “LOGIN.”
The first word ever sent across what would become the internet.
That small, failed experiment changed everything.
Today, over 5 billion people are online. 25 billion devices are connected — more devices than humans on the planet. That one crash in 1969 became the first spark of a global transformation.
When Failure Leads to Revolution
The internet wasn’t the only technology dismissed early on.
When the laser was first proposed, leading scientists — even Nobel laureates — called it “impractical.”
The paper was rejected by major journals.
And yet today, lasers are everywhere: in surgery, grocery scanners, communications, and even space exploration.
Innovation thrives in uncertainty.
Failure is often the first step toward transformation.
The Quantum Leap: Exploring Inner Space
Today, we stand at another such frontier — not in outer space, but in inner space.
The world of atoms, electrons, and photons.
At the quantum scale, nature behaves in ways that defy intuition.
In our everyday digital world, information is binary — zero or one.
But in the quantum world, information exists as a superposition — an infinite combination of zero and one.
Think of it as moving from black-and-white to full color.
A world of probabilities and entanglements — where measuring one particle can instantly affect another, even miles apart.
It sounds like science fiction.
But for the first time in history, we can create, control, and engineer quantum behavior at the human scale.
From Steel to Quantum: Chicago’s Bold Bet
Here in Illinois, about 50 miles south of Chicago, scientists are building quantum computers atom by atom using focused lasers.
They’re developing single-atom memories capable of storing billions of bits of data in a space smaller than a grain of sand.
Others are using quantum particles to detect disease within living cells — enabling early diagnostics far beyond what MRI can achieve.
And across the Midwest, we’re building entangled quantum networks, laying hundreds of miles of fiber to connect quantum computers and sensors — forming the backbone of a future quantum internet.
It’s happening faster than most can keep up.
As one researcher put it, “We’re driving 100 miles an hour in the fog — and building the road as we go.”
Quantum in Everyday Life
So how will this change your life?
Imagine airports like O’Hare.
Quantum algorithms could optimize the routing of thousands of planes and gates in real time — problems too complex for classical computers.
Quantum encryption could make our financial transactions unhackable.
Quantum sensors could safeguard pilots from GPS spoofing.
From transportation to healthcare to cybersecurity — quantum technology will touch every corner of our lives.
The Race for Quantum Leadership
This is a once-in-a-generation moment for Chicago — and for the world.
The U.S. passed the National Quantum Initiative Act, launching 10 national centers — four of which are based here in Illinois.
The state is investing hundreds of millions in labs and the Illinois Quantum & Microelectronics Park, transforming the old U.S. Steel site into a hub of the future.
From steel to quantum — thinking big to think small.
But this isn’t just a competition between labs or countries.
It’s about people.
Over the next decade, we’ll need more than 800,000 quantum engineers — and 70% of these roles will be filled by those with associate or undergraduate degrees.
Our community college system is our greatest asset in building this quantum workforce.
As one executive told me, “The last thing we need is more people like you.”
(He meant professors, by the way — not that I took it personally.)
The Final Frontier
Mark Twain once said, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.”
Just like past revolutions — from the laser to the internet — global collaboration will be key.
We must attract brilliant minds, nurture them, and build together.
Because what’s happening now isn’t just the next step in science — it’s the beginning of a new era.
Quantum teleportation already allows us to transmit atomic information across miles — not people yet, but the principle is the same.
The world once imagined by Star Trek is no longer fiction.
And here in Chicago, we stand ready — engineers, dreamers, and explorers — to boldly go where no one has gone before.
Author’s Note:
Dr. David Awschalom is a professor of spintronics and quantum information at the University of Chicago and Director of the Chicago Quantum Exchange.
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