Quantum Materials Center

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.

Topics

Campus News

Quantum Materials Center

College of Science

K12 Quantum Workforce Development Project

Ghimire awarded NSF CAREER Award for quantum science research on synthesis and study of magnetic topological materials

John Hollis — Wed, 02 Feb 2022 16:56:47 +0000

Ghimire awarded NSF CAREER Award for quantum science research on synthesis and study of magnetic topological materials John Hollis Wed, 02/02/2022 - 11:56

Nirmal Jeevi Ghimire awarded NSF Career Award for quantum science research on synthesis and study of magnetic topological materials. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services

��AV’s Nirmal Jeevi Ghimire has been awarded a National Science Foundation CAREER Award for his research into the design of materials for magnetic and electronic topological properties that can pave the way to thinner, faster and more energy-efficient devices.

Ghimire, an assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy within Mason’s College of Science, will receive a total of more $560,000 in grant money from the NSF for his work in synthesizing and studying topological materials where an underlying crystal structure of the material allows the interplay between the material’s magnetism and electronic structure to influence one or the other, thus allowing emergence of novel properties, such as quantum anomalous Hall effect, which can play a crucial role in designing the building block of future technologies such as quantum computing.

Ghimire likened this next potential technological step from the current Silicon Age to the leap from the Stone Age to the Bronze and then Iron Ages.

“The Stone Age didn’t end because of lack of stones—it ended because people found better materials when they found bronze and then iron,” he said, recounting the famous quote. “We need new materials to go past the silicon-based technology that has hit a limit in terms of making thinner, faster and more energy-efficient devices.”

By designing and changing the crystal structure of the material, Ghimire seeks to change the magnetism and influence the electronic topological properties.

“This research examines this issue of the fundamental science, how can we influence the electronic properties by changing the magnetic properties or vice versa and find a system that can potentially be used in these future spintronic devices,” Ghimire explained.

Most modern-day computers and microelectronics make use of the semiconductor silicon, which exploits the electron’s charge to store, transmit, and process information. Although silicon has been instrumental in technological advancements over the past several decades, use of the electron’s intrinsic spin, in addition to its charge, holds promise for thinner, faster and more energy-efficient devices. Discovering material that better serves as a platform for the process has long been the challenge.

Using crystal materials he and his team will grow in a lab, Ghimire hope to then change the structure of that material, altering its magnetism and its influence on electronic topological properties.

Their work could lead to critical advances that could shape future technology and quantum information science and pave the way for quantum computing.

Among the goals of the project, which is expected to begin in August, is to bring materials synthesis and characterization to students and the broader community in the metropolitan Washington, D.C., area through the recruitment of both undergraduate and graduate students from underrepresented groups, curriculum development in quantum materials, and workshop organization on materials synthesis and characterization for undergraduate and graduate students.

The novel materials synthesized in his lab will not only be important to Ghimire’s research activities, but crucial for the Physics and Astronomy Department’s condensed matter program as a whole and the university’s vision in the development of research activities in quantum materials, said department chair Paul T. So. Materials synthesis is one program that can quickly develop collaborations and enhance both theoretical and other experimental research efforts.

Ghimire and his team will collaborate with scientists both within and outside of Mason.

“Students and postdocs trained during this work will get the direct benefit, and Mason will have impact, in preparing the next generation in the synthesis of quantum materials,” So said. “Sharing of the materials synthesized will help grow Mason’s collaboration to national and international institutions and research centers. This is particularly important for a young institution like ours.”

The project also seeks to engage high school students—who may not see science career paths represented in their communities—in research through existing K-12 programs as Mason’s Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program and STEM Accelerator Program.

“We want to do good fundamental science, and it feels really good to be recognized for this important work,” Ghimire said.

Topics

College of Science

Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program (ASSIP)

STEM

National Science Foundation

Quantum Materials Center

Research

Mason’s Quantum Materials Center seeks to help expand quantum breakthroughs with new materials

Colleen Rich — Fri, 25 Oct 2019 09:00:00 +0000

Mason’s Quantum Materials Center seeks to help expand quantum breakthroughs with new materials Colleen Rich Fri, 10/25/2019 - 05:00

Topics

College of Science

Quantum Materials Center

World-class research

Research