The Dow Chemical Co. (Midland, Mich.; www.dow.com) and 1QB Information Technologies (1QBit) announced a collaboration agreement to develop quantum computing tools for the chemicals and materials science technology spaces. By combining Dow’s unique innovation capabilities with 1QBit’s leading expertise in the development of applications for quantum computing, the two companies will accelerate the deployment of quantum computing across a range of applications relevant to the chemical sector.
“Our preliminary work with 1QBit has been very encouraging,” said A.N. Sreeram , senior vice president, R&D, and chief technology officer for Dow. “Together with 1QBit, we have achieved ‘proof of concept’ for the application of quantum computing in areas relevant to Dow. With this new, multi-year agreement, we intend to develop a robust capability in the quantum computing space, further advancing our world-class innovation capabilities and maximizing shareholder return.”
The collaboration will augment Dow’s discovery process by building strong fundamental understanding of new chemicals and materials. The combination of next-generation computational methodologies with experimental design will drive new acceleration of product and process development.
“We are pleased to be working with Dow on leading-edge quantum computing software development for the material sciences,” said Andrew Fursman, chief executive officer for 1QBit. “Dow brings a powerful science machine and global market access in the chemical and materials sectors. We have been very impressed with the quality of the opportunity uncovered in the initial phases of this collaboration.”
The mission of 1QBit is to apply breakthroughs in computation to machine intelligence and optimization science through a widely accessible, hardware-agnostic software platform. Over the last four years, 1QBit has developed new methods for machine learning, sampling, and optimization based on reformulating problems to meet the unique requirements of interfacing with quantum computers and leveraging their capabilities.
“We continue to push technology to the next level,” said Keith Watson, vice president, Core R&D, for Dow. “This collaboration will allow Dow to bring forward breakthrough innovations that solve complex problems and serve our markets.”
The terms of the agreement were not disclosed.