Over the past 25 years, a new computing hardware technology has been in development and it’s likely you have heard about it but are not quite sure what it means for you and your company. It is called quantum computing and is based on the laws of physics. It is completely different than today’s well-known “classical” computing and even has its own quirky jargon, such as entanglement, qubits and superposition.
Denise Ruffner is a top evangelist for quantum computing worldwide and explains what is meant by quantum computing and what are the possible applications.
Denise Ruffner leads Worldwide Business Development for IonQ who offers the highest performing quantum computer in the industry. In this role, she is responsible for all sales and strategy for this new technology.
Denise is a top evangelist for quantum computing worldwide, and featured at many events. She is an Advisor to the OneQuantum organization, President of Women in Quantum, and co-hosts a weekly podcast “Quantum World Detangled”. Prior to IonQ, Denise was Chief Business Officer at Cambridge Quantum Computing. Denise spent 18 years at IBM, and in her last role was responsible for the Startup Program, Ambassador Program and sales strategy for IBM Quantum.
She has a MS in Neurobiology and Genomics, and a long time interest in understanding the mechanisms of learning and memory.
What is meant by Quantum Computers?
It is a complex technology, but put simply, quantum computing encodes information into quantum states and computes by performing quantum operations on it. The basic unit of quantum information is called a qubit, short for quantum bit.
What can we expect from Quantum Computers?
Quantum computing won’t replace classical computing, so don’t expect to be able to toss your desktop, laptop or tablet computers. But this new technology will allow us to solve problems, including some of society’s trickiest issues, that are difficult or intractable for even today’s super computers. These problems range from modeling chemical reactions to inventing new materials to developing carbon sequestration technologies to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to slow or reverse atmospheric carbon dioxide pollution and potentially reverse global warming. There are many more areas where this technology will be applied including machine learning and optimization.
How is Quantum Computing coming?
The potential for applications of quantum computing is amazing, but still in the future. Quantum computers are growing in capabilities, but have not yet surpassed classical computers in solving real-life problems. The future is undeniably bright, and we will be limited only by our imagination as we think up approaches to problems we want to solve.
Major companies are offering early-stage quantum computing technology, and a healthy startup ecosystem has developed around hardware and software for these systems.
Join me at the Global Female Leaders event to start your education on quantum computing and learn more about how this technology could help you in your business.
