Cleveland Clinic Cracks Code on Quantum Computing with IBM Partnership
Cleveland Clinic is home to one of the world's most advanced quantum computers, thanks to a partnership with IBM. The $100 million initiative has been in place for five years and will last for another five. Dr. Lara Jehi, the Clinic's Chief Research Information Officer, manages the project and refers to the computer as 'my baby.' It was built over nine months, just like a human pregnancy.
The quantum computer is housed in an 11-foot-tall glass cube at the Clinic's Lerner Research Institute. Dr. Jehi wanted it to be visible and spark ideas among her colleagues. The IBM chip uses mysterious subatomic physics to perform millions of calculations simultaneously.
Quantum computers use 'qubits' that can be yes, no, or maybe all at once, unlike classical computers that solve equations with 1's and 0's. However, quantum indeterminacy causes errors, which the team is still trying to overcome. Dr. Jehi is confident they will solve these issues and meet a looming deadline set by the Trump administration.
The U.S. government wants error-free quantum computing up and running by 2028 as part of a competitive strategy to dominate cutting-edge computing. Dr. Vipin Chaudhary, head of Case Western Reserve University's computer science department, sees quantum computing as a major leap forward but notes it has hurdles to overcome.