NPI Hosts 2021 Virtual Quantum Fly-In

WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 18, 2021) – The National Photonics Initiative (NPI), a broad-based collaborative alliance among industry, academia, and government to raise awareness of optics, photonics and quantum science and technology, hosted a Virtual Fly-In this week to promote continued federal investment in quantum information science.

“We had outstanding turnout for our quantum Fly-In this year,” said Ed White, chair of the NPI Steering Committee and Vice President Test, Assembly and Packaging for AIM Photonics. “Our diverse group of representatives from industry, academia, and scientific societies brought terrific perspective and advocacy to all of our meetings this week. Continued federal support for quantum research and development is essential to keeping the U.S. globally competitive and will help establish a quantum workforce for the future.”

Participants included representatives from IBM, Honeywell, Google, Microsoft, L3, University of Maryland, University of Oregon, Duke, University of Colorado, Harvard, SUNY Poly, University of Rochester, Toptica, IONQ, NYCREATES, SPIE, and The Optical Society (OSA). Over the course of 4 days, Fly-In participants conducted 58 meetings with members and staff on Capitol Hill.

In addition to discussing quantum, Fly-In participants voiced support for the Endless Frontiers Act that was introduced by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senator Todd Young (R-IN) that would authorize $100 billion over the next several years for emerging technologies including quantum, artificial intelligence, and others. They encouraged members to join the bipartisan, bicameral Congressional Optics and Photonics Caucus that was launched in late February. The Caucus is co-chaired by Representatives Joe Morelle (D-NY) and Brian Mast (R-FL) and Senators Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Steve Daines (R-MT).

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About the NPI: The National Photonics Initiative (NPI) is a collaborative alliance among industry, academia and government to raise awareness of photonics and the impact of photonics on our everyday lives; increase cooperation and coordination among US industry, government and academia to advance photonics-driven fields; and drive US funding and investment in areas of photonics critical to maintaining US economic competitiveness and national security. The initiative is being led by top scientific societies including the American Physical Society (APS), the IEEE Photonics Society, the Laser Institute of America (LIA), The Optical Society (OSA) and SPIE, the International Society for Optics and Photonics. For more information visit www.lightourfuture.org.