Dirac Labs, a Madison, Wisconsin–based startup that is leveraging quantum sensing and nanophotonics research to develop positioning, tracking, and navigation technologies for autonomous vehicles and other applications, has joined the Chicago Quantum Exchange (CQE) as a corporate partner. The company was co-founded by Sanket Deshpande, a PhD student in electrical and computer engineering at the University of Wisconsin—Madison, along with researcher Aishwarya Das. Mikhail Kats, the Jack St. Clair Kilby Professor and Antoine-Bascom Professor, and Jennifer Choy, the Dugald C. Jackson Assistant Professor in electrical and computer engineering a UW-Madison, serve as scientific advisors to the company.
“As a quantum researcher affiliated with the University of Wisconsin–Madison, I’m familiar with CQE’s tremendous impact in the Midwest quantum ecosystem,” says Deshpande. “Partnering with CQE will accelerate the development of Dirac Labs’ quantum sensing platform by ways of engagement with academic researchers, recruiting talented scientists and engineers and collaborating with its industry partners.”
The company is developing systems for the commercial and defense sectors and has received funding from industry, NASA and the US-India Science & Tech Endowment Fund (USISTEF). Quantum sensors can enable highly accurate navigation technology even in challenging environments where traditional GPS might be unreliable by measuring things like gravity and magnetic fields.
Dirac will engage with the CQE through the Founder Platform and research collaborations focused on developing high-accuracy magnetic field datasets using Dirac’s quantum magnetometer.
“Quantum sensing offers unprecedented navigation precision, and we are excited to partner with Dirac Labs and they work to develop these applications,” says David Awschalom, the University of Chicago’s Liew Family Professor of Molecular Engineering and the director of the CQE. “We look forward to fruitful collaborations.”
The CQE is based at the University of Chicago and anchored by the US Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Northwestern University, and Purdue University. The CQE includes more than 50 corporate, international, nonprofit, and regional partners
A version of this press release was originally published by the Chicago Quantum Exchange.