July 25, 2025

In Chicago, Duckworth Convenes Quantum Manufacturing & Research Leaders to Discuss Illinois’s Quantum Future

 

[CHICAGO, IL] – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today convened more than a dozen leaders across Illinois’s burgeoning quantum sector, manufacturing and research institutions to learn more about how Illinois can harness quantum advancements to bolster our state’s manufacturing power. Today’s meeting comes on the heels of this week’s Global Quantum Forum in Chicago which brought together leaders in quantum from around the globe. Photos from today’s meeting are available on the Senator’s website.

 

“Illinois is already a hub of agriculture, manufacturing and transportation, and we’re becoming a national and international leader for quantum technology,” Duckworth said. “As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I’m committed to promoting Illinois on a global level to help bring home investments, especially in our growing quantum industry, and making sure Illinois’s quantum projects have the federal support they need. Investment in quantum can enhance our national security, help cure diseases, bend the curve on climate change, protect our financial system and so much more – and I’m eager see these advancements help bolster the strength of our state and region’s manufacturing.”

 

Duckworth today convened leaders from Chicago Quantum Exchange, PsiQuantum, Intersect Illinois, Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, IBM, qBraid, EeroQ, memQ and Infleqtion as well as Great Lakes Crystal Technologies, Illinois Manufacturers’ Association, IMEC, Ability Engineering, Jupiter Machine Tool, Barnes & Thornburg, Applied Materials and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.

 

Duckworth has been a staunch advocate for bringing investment in quantum to Illinois. In this year’s committee-passed National Defense Authorization Act, Duckworth included language recognizing the importance of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI) program, which aims to help the U.S. build commercially useful Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computing by 2033. This provision recognizes the importance of the development of the first FTQC, which is being built at the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park in Chicago.

 

As a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Duckworth is committed to helping bring international investment into Illinois, especially in the quantum space. Earlier this year Duckworth traveled to Taiwan to underscore Illinois’s preparedness for additional international investments

 

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