Our Mission

Quantum information, engineering, science and technology (QUIEST) is a transdisciplinary field that draws from physics, materials science, electrical engineering, and information science. By controlling and exploiting quantum-mechanical effects like superposition and entanglement in physical systems, QUIEST is already transforming the way we think about computation and information security. Other near-term applications include quantum communication links and precision sensors for biology, chemistry, and medicine. Penn’s broad strengths in these areas provide an ideal environment for basic QUIEST research and for the translation of impactful technologies.

Penn QUIEST will advance this vision by coordinating activities across the university and in the greater Philadelphia region. It brings together over thirty faculty from the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the School of Arts & Sciences.

Two students in QUIEST T-shirts wearing safety goggles stand overlooking a table with quantum optical equipment in a dark room. The table is illuminated by multicolored laser lights, with yellow and blue laser beams visibly refracting off of tiny lenses. The student on the left has shoulder-length wavy black hair, while the student on the right stands slightly taller with long straight red-brown hair, reaching her left hand onto the equipment table with a gloved hand.
Lee Bassett (QUIEST Director) stands in the front of a classroom teaching students. He wears brown pants and a navy sweater and holds both hands out front gesturing with a stick of chalk in his right hand. Behind him is a blackboard with equations written in chalk.

Our Objectives

  • Initiating and supporting transdisciplinary research projects in QUIEST by promoting interdepartmental and cross-school discourse and scholarship.
  • Expanding research in QUIEST by recruiting top undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and – through a strategic Penn Engineering hiring initiative – faculty who will establish new research and academic programs.
  • Promoting QUIEST in the greater Philadelphia region by establishing partner relationships with industry and local academic institutions.
 

Leadership

Eric A. Stach

Robert D. Bent Professor

Ritesh Agarwal

Professor, Srinivasa Ramanujan Distinguished Scholar

Marija Drndic

Fay R. and Eugene L. Langberg Professor

Eric J. Schelter

Hirschmann-Makineni Professor

Jonathan Michael Smith

Olga and Alberico Pompa Professor

Stephen A. Zdancewic

Schlein Family President’s Distinguished Professor

Bo Zhen

Assistant Professor