🔒Why Quantum Circuits’ Schoelkopf may be the Steve Jobs of the 21st century

In terms of performance and potential, comparing the computers we use today to quantum computers is a little like comparing a garden slug to a thoroughbred.

But today physicist and entrepreneur Robert J. Schoelkopf, the Sterling Professor of Applied Physics and Physics at Yale, is working to bring this emerging technology to the masses.

Schoelkopf explains that quantum computers hold the promise of changing our lives in ways we can’t even yet imagine, much like past generations could only have dreamed of today’s computers and smartphones. Quantum-computing technology holds the potential for faster and more powerful information-processing than today’s supercomputers.

“One of the reasons this is so exciting is because it is like being in the first few years of the original computer revolution,” Schoelkopf explains. “In the ‘60s, you couldn’t imagine where we are today. We didn’t imagine people would have supercomputers in their pockets and we would all be connected.”

“It’s exciting to think about the implications of the quantum computer,” he adds. “There could be uses and applications we haven’t imagined. There is a vast potential we haven’t appreciated.”

Schoelkopf early on discerned the incalculable practical and commercial potential of his research. To help realize that potential he co-founded the company Quantum Circuits Inc. in 2015 with two of his Yale colleagues, Michel Devoret and Luigi Frunzio. Devoret is Yale’s F.W. Beinecke Professor of Applied Physics and Physics, while Frunzio is a senior research scientist in applied physics. The trio has “pioneered the field of quantum computing with superconducting circuits,” according to Yale.

The company’s goal is to “develop, manufacture and sell the first practical quantum computers.”

Quantum Circuits raised $18 million in Series A funding in 2017, co-led by the venture firms Canaan and Sequoia, with participation from Tribeca Venture Partners, Osage University Partners and Fitz Gate Ventures. Headquartered in Westport, Canaan touts itself as a firm that “invests in entrepreneurs with visionary ideas.” Sequoia has worked with the likes of entrepreneurs Steve Jobs (Apple), Tesla creator Elon Musk and Brian Chesky of AirBnB. The Series A offering is the company’s only funding round to date.

This January, the company opened a new 6,000-square foot quantum computing development and testing facility at 25 Science Park in New Haven. Today, its team has grown to about two dozen, including scientists, programmers and engineers, and they expect continued growth.

“We want New Haven to be known as the birthplace of quantum computing,” Schoelkopf says.

Yale scientists made the first quantum computer a decade ago, and in the years since have discovered better ways of building more practical and useful versions, according to Schoelkopf.

“It is time to translate this into a real tool for the rest of the world,” Schoelkopf explains. “Our goal is to move from prototypes to more useful quantum computers.”

In early 2018 Schoelkopf, who is now the company’s chief scientific officer, took a one-year leave of absence from Yale to build Quantum Circuits’ team. Schoelkopf has always been a scientist, not a businessperson, and when he made the leap to starting a company, he knew he needed help.

The founders enlisted Martin Mengwall, who now serves as the company’s president and chief executive officer. Mengwall not only has a degree in physics, but he has the benefit of 20 years of business experience — key to managing daily company operations, overseeing finances and explaining Quantum Circuits’ goals to potential investors.

“It was a big leap to start a company because I’ve been a professor all of my adult life,” Schoelkopf acknowledges. “I saw others who had done the same thing and talked to them, and they said it was hard, but possible. I’ve had a lot of scientific mentors who helped guide me to where I am today.”

Schoelkopf is passionate about making discoveries — or, as he describes it, “being able to see something no one else has.”

“I always wanted to be a scientist — I love it,” Schoelkopf says. “The goal is to create knowledge that is useful for the human race.”

In the new and unprecedented circumstances in which he now finds himself, Schoelkopf decided he didn’t want to be involved solely in the science — he wanted to be directly involved in creating real-world applications.

“It is not enough to throw your ideas out there — there is a job to get it enacted and see it through to the end,” Schoelkopf says.

While other companies are also pursuing quantum computing technology based on Yale’s research, Schoelkopf and his colleagues were determined to start their own business.

“We have different insights, and we want to shepherd the science to the practical domain,” Schoelkopf explains.

The intellectual and commercial horizons of quantum computing are seemingly without limits — but today the path to practical application must be navigated.

“No one has a quantum computer yet that can do what other computers can’t,” Schoelkopf says. “[However] they will very rapidly surpass conventional computers.”

Once the company is ready, it will start with a “small space of users.” Schoelkopf foresees offering quantum computing over the web, so if a user has a question or problem, they’ll be able to use the Internet and get answers with a quantum computer hosted at Quantum Circuits’ lab.

“These are not something we see replacing the laptop or the cellphone,” Schoelkopf explains. “The power is in the data-processing tasks.”

While finding a solution may be like looking for a needle in a haystack in science, the quantum computer will be able to find answers quickly, he explains.

Schoelkopf foresees the technology having applications for cybersecurity, pharmaceuticals and chemistry, such as devising new technologies to safeguard computer systems, as well as designing new drugs, chemicals and materials.

Quantum computers are also expected to be particularly useful for machine learning, energy, logistics, weather prediction, navigation and financial technology. This technology may be better able to explore the potential efficacy and side effects of a new drug, or find a way to sequester greenhouse gases from the environment, for example.

NASA already has a facility hosting a quantum computer, and this spring NASA indicated that its researchers are exploring how this technology may improve its ability to solve difficult problems in aeronautics and space exploration, such as mission planning and system diagnostics.

Today Schoelkopf is back teaching full-time at Yale, but he is focused on quantum computing while there. He acts as a consultant for the company and oversees its scientific direction, and he regularly goes back and forth between teaching and his work at Quantum Circuits.

Clearly at ease speaking before crowds, he spends a lot of time traveling to Washington, D.C. and around the world to talk about his research, including at the World Economic Forum.

Schoelkopf seems equally passionate about his research, physics, teaching, his company and what it will all mean for the future.

“To me, the best thing about the success of the company will be to see the field we started, and the efforts of many students, scientists, and engineers over the years, translate into a whole new industry that makes a difference in the world,” Schoelkopf explains.

His Yale office in the Becton Center on Prospect Street has a globe marked with pins to show where his graduates are all over the world doing quantum computing-related work, including places such as China, Germany and Switzerland. He also keeps empty Champagne bottles in his office, which are covered with signatures and left over from celebrations for his former students earning their doctoral degrees.

Schoelkopf chose a different career path from his parents, who worked as art dealers. Instead, he wanted to be a scientist since he was about five years old. When he was in high school he considered marine biology, geology and chemistry as possible career paths. But he recalls how physics held a particular mystique because it was the last and most “advanced” science class students in his school could take. As a high school junior, he attended a science program at Yale which included a low-temperature physics demonstration.

Schoelkopf was hooked — and he never looked back.

“It was really cool and sparked my interest,” Schoelkopf says. “Life is too short not to have fun.”

Frunzio, who has worked with Schoelkopf at Yale for 20 years, describes his colleague as someone who works hard to reach his goals.

“One of the reasons I stuck working with him is he is a natural leader — he has bright ideas and is committed to what he does,” Frunzio says. “He puts in a lot of hours. Why? Because he loves it. He is frequently traveling pitching for the company.

“That tells you the passion he has for the field.”

Robert Schoelkopf and five other area innovators and entrepreneurs will be honored at an event on Oct. 30, "60 Ideas in 60 Minutes."