Why this is a good time to be in Quantum Technology field
+ With the Government of India announcing the ‘National Mission on Quantum Technologies and Applications (NM-QTA)’ in 2020 and financial support of Rs 8000 crore over five years in the field, there seems to be an urgent need for trained workforce in quantum technologies. Keeping the larger prospects in view, the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, is set to commence the first-of-its-kind MTech in Quantum Technology programme in August 2021 with a proposed intake of 20 students. The 2-year programme that will be formally hosted by the Department of Instrumentation and Applied Physics, will train students in quantum technology for both advanced research and industry. Students can choose from four different streams – Quantum Computation and Simulation, Quantum Communications, Quantum Measurement and Sensing, and Materials for Quantum Technologies – after their first semester of common course work.
India joined the quantum technology effort relatively later compared to the US and Europe. “Consequently, there is an enormous opportunity for growth within the country. Along with IISc, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), IIT Madras, IIT Bombay, Raman Research Institute (RRI), Bangalore, are actively working in this field,” says Baladitya Suri, assistant professor, Department of Instrumentation and Applied Physics, IISc.
+ On what makes quantum technology a key area of interest among researchers and industry, Arindam Ghosh, professor, Department of Physics, IISc, says, “It is an emerging technology which can not only transform some of the major sectors like computing and communications, but also have a deep impact on the gadgets that we use in our day-to-day life, such as mobile phones, GPS etc. Since this technology is important for strategic sectors, including defence and data security, we need to be self-reliant, and develop the technology indigenously. Several government departments, ministries and laboratories such as DST, MEITy, DRDO and ISRO are looking at substantial investments in this area, while world over, several major industrial players such as Google, IBM, Microsoft etc have drawn up their roadmaps towards niche aspects of quantum technology.”
+ The demand for quantum technology, and experts in this field, are on a rapid rise both in the global and the Indian scene. “There is an urgent need to train qualified personnel in this field. In India alone, it is expected to create about 50,000 direct/indirect jobs in the near term, and 2,00,000 in the longer term,” Suri adds.
Source: Times of India. Rajlakshmi Ghosh, Why this is a good time to be in Quantum Technology field…
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