Presented by: Dana Anderson, University of Colorado Boulder and Infleqtion

Abstract: When Eric Cornell and Carl Wieman first demonstrated Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC), many of us felt it would change the world of physics. Following generous support from the scientific research offices of the Navy, Army, and Air Force, and from DARPA, my business partner Rainer Kunz and I naively set out to create a business. We called it ColdQuanta.

Our mission was to enable others to carry out experiments and develop applications around BEC and, more generally, cold and ultracold atoms. That was 2007. Fast-forward 19 years: the company, now Infleqtion, went public this past February and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. It has grown to some 300 people and has a global presence, with offices in the US, the UK, and Australia. The company is developing products spanning clocks, quantum computers, and many things in between. We have sent quantum technology into space and continue to translate fundamental physics into technologies and products that solve meaningful problems.

I will trace selected pieces of this journey, from its scientific origins at CU through some of the unexpected directions, twists and turns, successes and failures that emerged as we worked to transform laboratory physics into a technology platform—and a profitable business.

Host: Ana Maria Rey