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Quantum Forge students gain industry experience with Xairos

Quantum Forge students gain industry experience with Xairos

Quantum Forge students working in the lab

L-R: Grayson Hallmark, Conor O'Neill, Andrew Nguyen and Ethan Trapp

Real-world experience with quantum optics 听


Four seniors in the Quantum Forge class at CU Boulder recently completed their year-long project with , giving them an inside look at working in the industry.

Quantum Forge gives students first-hand experience with the quantum industry through sponsored projects with industry partners. Students gain proficiency with industry techniques while becoming more familiar with company culture and norms, positioning them well for industry entry to successfully enter the workforce upon completion of the course. Students can apply for Quantum Forge in March for the upcoming academic year.

Xairos Systems, Inc., a quantum technology company that is developing a global resilient space-based timing architecture to augment timing from GPS (Global Positioning Systems), benefitted from hosting four quantum physics and engineering physics undergraduate students in the lab, where they were exposed to the real-world problem of entangling photons, quantifying the interaction and visualizing the invisible process. 听

The participating students included four seniors majoring in physics and engineering physics: Conor O鈥橬eill, Grayson Hallmark, Ethan Trapp and Andrew Nguyen, all of whom completed the program in Spring 2025. 听

鈥淲orking with Xairos was an incredible experience because I got to see startup culture and be involved in a project applying quantum optics,鈥 said Nguyen. 鈥淚t's rewarding to see physics from the classroom being used in the real world.鈥 听

Xairos is developing a global resilient space-based timing architecture using Quantum Time Transfer. Accurate timing synchronization is critical for improving the efficiency of power grids, networks and data centers, including those needing higher compute capabilities due to rising demand from artificial intelligence. 听

"Most capstone experiences for science majors are designed for students continuing on to graduate study,鈥 said Michael Bennett, the course designer and director of education for the Q-SEnSE NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institute at CU Boulder. 鈥淏ut the reality is that companies are increasingly looking to hire at a variety of levels of quantum specialization. The Xairos team is a great example of how even bachelors-level workers can make meaningful contributions to the quantum workforce.鈥 听

鈥淲e have been very impressed by the students鈥 determination and motivation,鈥 said David Mitlyng, CEO of Xairos. 鈥淎chieving photon entanglement is not for the faint of heart, and these young professionals showed fortitude and commitment.鈥

91制片厂国产AV Quantum Forge

Quantum Forge is a three credit-hour course that gives CU Boulder students first-hand experience with quantum industry culture and practice. In project groups sponsored by industry partners from the quantum tech field, students work through the academic year on a real quantum information science tech project, gaining expertise with industry-relevant skills like programming, machining and fabrication, CAD design, professional communication and project management. Learn more.

Questions about the course can be directed to Professor Sean Shaheen and Dr. Michael Bennett.听

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