The project brings together scientists, innovators, and industrial players and will receive a cumulative six-million-euro funding from the European Commission over the next three years.
The EQUALITY consortium comprising Airbus, Capgemini, Da Vinci Labs, Fraunhofer ENAS, German Aerospace Center, INRIA, Leiden University and PASQAL, has been selected by the EU’s key funding program for research and innovation, Horizon Europe, to develop innovative quantum computer algorithms that are aimed to solve strategic industrial problems.
By transforming current industrial interest into widespread adoption, EQUALITY’s objective is to solidify the link between strategic European industries and the emerging quantum ecosystem, while also contributing to technologies which are critical to the green transition. This project is one of three submissions selected out of a total of 51. The partners will receive a cumulative six-million-euro funding from the European Commission over the next three years.
The consortium will target eight industrial use cases that can benefit from the quantum-enabled speed-up – each computationally complex and faced routinely by the industrial partners. These are airfoil aerodynamics, battery design, fluid dynamics, space mission optimization, materials design, multidisciplinary optimization, space data analysis and fuel cell design. The computational requirements are enormous, forcing today’s engineers to use simplistic models or rely on expensive build-and-test cycles. This is exemplified in aerodynamics, where it is more feasible to test models in a wind tunnel than solving the difficult equations involved in simulations. Similarly complex situations are also found in Li-ion batteries and fuel cell simulations.
The opportunity provided by quantum computers to tackle such questions computationally promises a competitive edge for European industry. Moreover, energy-efficient aerodynamics and more durable and affordable batteries are critical to propelling these industries towards zero emissions.
Born in Europe over 100 years ago, quantum physics brought forth a technological revolution, enabling inventions such as semiconductors, lasers, fibre optics, and other technologies that are today ubiquitous in our lives.
Quantum computers can perform several operations that are too difficult, or even impossible, for regular processors. And as they approach widespread commercial application, they open up market opportunities in several sectors.
The use of today’s quantum hardware, however, requires grappling with the limitations of this nascent technology. These bottlenecks limit the application of quantum computers to solve industrial problems.
