K12 Quantum Workforce Development Project

Mason-led Immersion Program presents quantum pathways to high school students

Colleen Rich — Wed, 09 Aug 2023 19:00:27 +0000

Mason-led Immersion Program presents quantum pathways to high school students Colleen Rich Wed, 08/09/2023 - 15:00

Quantum is the study of the universe at the smallest scales. The strange behaviors that occur at the scale of atoms are key to the technologies that power our computers and many other modern devices. Recent advances that allow for greater manipulation of these strange behaviors have propelled quantum into a new era and holds promise for technological advances in computing, sensing, and communications. These new technologies may be the landscape of the workplace for today’s high school students.

Photo Provided by the College of Science

To excite high school students about the promise of quantum technologies and to prepare them for this future, ��AV and Connected DMV held the Pathways to Quantum Immersion Program during July. This program brought together high school students from 21 schools around the metropolitan Washington, D.C., region to explore quantum-focused education, research, and career opportunities.

The transdisciplinary program was coordinated by Jessica Rosenberg, Mason associate professor of physics and director of education at Mason’s Quantum Science and Engineering Center (QSEC), and Nancy Holincheck, Mason College of Education and Human Development Assistant Professor, Associate Director, Center for Social Equity Through Science Education, and co-Academic Program Coordinator of the Advanced Studies in Teaching and Learning program.

Participants began with a two-week virtual program in which they learned about key quantum concepts, engaged with quantum phenomena using polarizers and simulations of experiments including the double slit experiment, learned about applications of quantum technologies, and were introduced to quantum careers.

Following the virtual program, the students spent a week in residence on Mason’s Fairfax Campus for a packed agenda of in-person programming that included lectures, discussions, and visits to sites working on quantum at Mason and around the region.

Participants visited several of the labs engaged in quantum research including Yun Yu’s quantum chemistry lab that is studying two-dimensional materials, Rob Cressman’s biophysics lab that is using quantum sensors to study the brain, Karen Sauer’s physics lab that is developing quantum sensors to detect magnetic fields, and QSEC Director Patrick Vora’s lab to learn about quantum materials research.

Photo Provided by the College of Science

“I learned about interdisciplinary, collaborative, and connected research across a variety of quantum topics—some I had already heard about and some emerging fields were new to me,” said Shivani Nadella, a rising senior at Freedom High School in South Riding, Virginia. “The professors were very knowledgeable and excited to share their expertise or resources you need to discover and pursue your passion.”

Nadella was originally planning to pursue a computer science degree when she got to college, but said, as a result of this experience, she is considering a dual major in physics.

Beyond Mason, program participants got to see quantum work that is being done at NASA, University of Maryland, MITRE, and George Washington University. At the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the students learned about the role of quantum in communications and got to see quantum labs as well as other facilities like the high bay where the Nancy Grace Roman telescope is being assembled.

At University of Maryland, they got to see lots of quantum labs including a cyclotron and a quantum computer. The MITRE tour included a career panel, as well as visits to the company’s nano-bio and vision-sensing labs. The nano-fabrication facility at George Washington University showed them work being done with scanning and transmitting electron microscopes.

The students’ final visit was to the White House Eisenhower Executive Office for presentations by members of the Office of Science and Technology Policy Quantum coordination office and a tour of the building.

Holincheck said this experience was important for access to opportunities and career information. “The students met diverse scientists working in quantum technologies and quantum policy and heard from them about current and future quantum applications and careers,” she said. “This program is one way that we can provide equitable access to STEM knowledge and opportunities for students from across our region.”

Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Michelle Reid said work-based learning experiences like the Quantum Immersion Program help prepare students for careers of the future—careers that don’t yet exist. Nine FCPS students participated in this summer program.

“Our deepest gratitude to our academic, government, and business partners who recognize the value of giving our students hands-on experiences to guide and shape their futures,” she added.

On the final day of the program, participants delivered presentations about what they had learned over the week and their quantum learning continues.

“Some of the students will continue with an extended internship program following this experience,” said Rosenberg. “All of the students also have the opportunity to present a poster on their vision for future quantum technologies the Quantum World Congress occurring in September.”

Rosenberg added, “A student told me that after this experience, they can truly realize how quantum can be applied to many fields—it is the future. They learn whatever career path they choose, whether medical or computational, quantum will be there.”

The Pathways to Quantum Immersion program is part of QSEC’s K12 Quantum Workforce Development Project, which was funded by an appropriation sponsored by U.S. Rep. Jennifer Wexton, and aims to inspire the next generation of students to pursue the field while simultaneously preparing a diverse quantum workforce in Northern Virginia.

“A student told me that after this experience, they can truly realize how quantum can be applied to many fields—it is the future. They learn whatever career path they choose, whether medical or computational, quantum will be there.”

Jessica Rosenberg

Learn more about the Quantum Immersion Program

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Area high school students shadow researchers in Quantum Pathways summer program

Colleen Rich — Thu, 04 Aug 2022 14:44:57 +0000

Area high school students shadow researchers in Quantum Pathways summer program Colleen Rich Thu, 08/04/2022 - 10:44

Photo by Nancy Holincheck/QSEC

Karen Sauer (pictured left), a ��AV professor of physics and astronomy, explained her quantum physics research to local high school students Eric Sierra, Grace Min, and Sharon Biju during the Quantum Pathways Immersion program in July.

The free summer program, co-sponsored by Mason's Quantum Science and Engineering Center (QSEC) and the nonprofit Potomac Quantum Innovation Center, brought together rising high school seniors from around the region to participate in a week-long job shadowing opportunity and to learn about quantum and STEM-related careers from researchers at leading universities and in the industry.

In addition to visiting Sauer’s lab, students met with other Mason researchers and talked with scientists and policy professionals at MITRE, University of Maryland, George Washington University, and the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.

The program was organized and run by Jessica L. Rosenberg, an associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy within the College of Science and the director of education for QSEC, and Nancy Holincheck, an assistant professor of STEM education in the College of Education and Human Development and associate director of education for QSEC.

The Quantum Pathways Immersion program is part of QSEC’s K12 Quantum Workforce Development Project, which was funded by an appropriation sponsored by U.S. Rep. Jennifer Wexton, and aims to inspire the next generation of students to pursue the field while simultaneously preparing a diverse quantum workforce in Northern Virginia.

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Mason to work with corporate partners on the K12 Quantum Workforce Development Project

John Hollis — Mon, 02 May 2022 19:30:43 +0000

Mason to work with corporate partners on the K12 Quantum Workforce Development Project John Hollis Mon, 05/02/2022 - 15:30

Jessica L. Rosenberg is an associate professor in the Dept. of Physics and Astronomy and the director of education for Mason's Quantum Science and Engineering Center. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services

A ��AV project to add quantum physics to the curriculum of several local school systems is part of the recently approved federal budget.

The K12 Quantum Workforce Development Project, which is being run by Mason’s Quantum Science and Engineering Center, accounted for $650,000 of the $3.5 trillion House Appropriations Bill and will serve as the pilot for a quantum physics curriculum in public schools in Fairfax and Loudoun counties. The aim of the program is to inspire the next generation of students to pursue the field while simultaneously preparing a diverse quantum workforce in Northern Virginia.

“The funding for this important initiative will have multiple impacts, to better prepare our teachers for a quantum future, to expand the knowledge of our diverse STEM workforce pipeline, and to further our important research at Mason’s Quantum Science and Engineering Center,” said Fernando Miralles-Wilhelm, dean of the College of Science. The center, founded in 2018, combines the efforts of physicists, mathematicians, computer scientists, and engineers to find new ways to use and advance quantum mechanics.

The federal funding will provide internships and career-connected experiences for secondary students seeking experience in quantum, support experiential learning and professional development for teachers, and begin the development of some of the first high school quantum curricula for Fairfax and Loudoun County Public Schools, said Jessica L. Rosenberg, an associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy within the College of Science and the director of education for the Quantum Science and Engineering Center.

Mason officials made sure to credit U.S. Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton and her staff for their efforts in landing the community project. Wexton's 10th District includes all of Loudoun County and parts of Fairfax and Prince William counties.

Quantum physics is the study of the behavior of matter at the smallest scales and dates back to an early 20th-century understanding of the need for quantum physics to explain the behaviors of atoms and their constituents, Rosenberg said.

The first quantum revolution made use of quantum behaviors in technology like the transistors that are at the heart of today’s computers.

“We are now entering the ‘second quantum revolution’ in which we not only have the ability to exploit quantum behaviors, but to manipulate them to meet needs that will be critical for advancements in computing, sensor development and communications,” Rosenberg said.

Success in these areas, she said, requires a new generation of interdisciplinary researchers who approach quantum with an open mind and find new ways to apply these new technologies to a wide range of problems.

Advances that allow for the manipulation of quantum systems are central to the development of quantum computing, cryptography, materials, and sensing, and are poised to drive high-tech economic development. Investing now in the quantum workforce at the high school level will be critical for Northern Virginia as it seeks to lead in this area and compete with significant investments made in other regional centers, including Maryland, Rosenberg said.

News of the project comes as the first elements of quantum computers have begun to appear, with the expectation that they will be the norm within the next few years and impact society in much the same manner as the advent of the computer did roughly 40 years ago.

Preparing a diverse workforce ready for this new technology will be imperative.

“I think it’s going to be amazing,” Rosenberg said. “Quantum sounds a little bit scary. We want to make it not so scary.”

Working with the university’s College of Education and Human Development and corporate partners, Mason quantum scientists hope to do just that by embedding basic quantum understanding in school curriculum and making internships available to those high school students to better foster workforce development.

“Industry has gotten very interested in how we are going to get a workforce that understands this totally new sort of approach to computing,” Rosenberg said.

The MITRE Corporation, a Northern Virginia-based nonprofit organization looking to bring innovative ideas into existence for a safer world, is among the corporate partners collaborating with Mason on the project by providing critical internships.

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K12 Quantum Workforce Development Project

Mason-led Immersion Program presents quantum pathways to high school students

Learn more about the Quantum Immersion Program

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Area high school students shadow researchers in Quantum Pathways summer program

Read More about the Quantum Workforce Project

Check out the Quantum Science and Engineering Center

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Mason to work with corporate partners on the K12 Quantum Workforce Development Project

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