27 June 2023 – Quantum conference


AgreenTech Valley's General Meeting was held on 27 June 2023 at the AGREEN LAB'O Village by CA in Orléans.

Participants were given an introduction to the world of quantum physics by Rodolphe SOPRACASE, a lecturer and researcher at the University of Tours in the physics department, in the GREMAN laboratory (materials, microelectronics, acoustics and nanotechnologies). He is an experimental physicist in condensed matter (electronic properties of quantum materials).

 

After giving us an overview of 'quantum strangeness' with a few theoretical reminders, he presented the technological applications of quantum and concluded with a review of projects in the Centre-Val de Loire region.

Rodolphe brilliantly rose to the challenge of explaining quantum physics to the general public, a difficult task, as he reminded us in his introduction, due to its counter-intuitive logic. "In quantum physics, you don't know where objects are, or where they're going", he said, reminding us also of Schrödinger's cat thought experiment (1935), which is both dead and alive as long as you don't open the box, "but not undead", enough to get the brains of our members and the team warmed up!

 

With regard to the applications of quantum technologies, the physicist presented the following:

  • 1st quantum revolution :
    • Electronics and microelectronics
    • Superconductivity
    • Optics / Laser
  • 2nd quantum revolution :
    • Quantum communication and cryptography
    • Quantum computing
    • Quantum sensors
    • Quantum simulations

He believes that these technologies will revolutionise a number of sectors, including aerospace, health, finance and telecommunications, thanks in particular to their computing power, highly secure communications, measurement accuracy and advanced modelling capabilities.

In the Centre-Val de Loire region, a number of players are already working on quantum technology. Rodolphe cites not only research laboratories, but also training providers who will be opening new Masters courses dedicated to quantum technology from September 2023. Last but not least, he presented the DA VINCI LABS in Reugny (a member of the cluster), a project led by Xavier AUBRY, which is a deeptech accelerator inspired by Leonardo da Vinci, putting artificial intelligence, synthetic biology and quantum computing at the service of our planet. Our thanks again to Xavier AUBRY for putting us in touch with Rodolphe for this conference 😉

Following this introduction to quantum computing, members were able to discover the freshly printed 2022 activity report and 2023 outlook at our Annual General Meeting, before enjoying a convivial moment over a prepared cocktail.