Over 700 industry guests attended the National Quantum Technologies Showcase, which took place on Friday 9th November 2018 at the QEII Centre, located at the heart of London’s political activity.
The UK National Quantum Technology Hub for Sensors and Metrology hosted 16 exhibitions in total at this event, which was hosted by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). These included the incredibly fascinating Quantum Sensing the Brain exhibit, which is comprised of a helmet with magnetic sensors measuring brain activity. This technology, developed by Hub researchers at the University of Nottingham, has particular applications in healthcare, specifically in diagnosing brain conditions such as dementia and ADHD.
This exhibit was showcased at the 2018 Royal Society’s Summer Science exhibition, and has generated a considerable amount of national media coverage as a result of its far-reaching end-user impact.
Two panel sessions, organised by the Quantum Technology Hub for Sensors and Metrology took place during the day. The sessions, titled: Are you Quantum Ready, featured key industry guests speaking about the growing importance of quantum research to ensure the future generations will be properly equipped with secure and stable technologies.
Professor Trevor Cross (Teledyne e2v) chaired the first panel session, which included speakers Professor George Tuckwell (RSK), Dr Brendan Casey (Kelvin Nanotechnology Ltd) and Andrew Shields (Toshiba). The question of how to best encourage the study of quantum in universities was discussed, and Professor Cross poignantly closed the session by stating the need to not be ‘frightened of the word quantum, as it’s just the next step of the journey’.
The National Quantum Technologies Showcase is an annual event which has greatly increased the profile of quantum technologies among industry audiences. Furthermore, industry attendance has rapidly increased over the past few years, and the Showcase has become an essential event for both quantum researchers and businesses wishing to implement quantum into their technologies.
