Photo credit: Dave Mason, ISPhotographic
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Midwest Quantum Collaboratory (MQC) held its fifth annual meeting, Entanglement 2026, from July 21 through 22, 2026 at Purdue University. The MQC was originally founded by Purdue, the University of Michigan, and Michigan State University, and recently welcomed five new member universities: Indiana University, Washington University in St. Louis (WashU), The Ohio State University, the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), and Northwestern University. The addition of these five premiere research institutions expands the coalition to eight member universities, strengthening the MQC’s mission to foster deep regional connections and accelerate collaborations in quantum science and technology.
This year marks the second time Purdue University has hosted the Entanglement conference, which convened MQC university researchers and administrators, leading quantum industry members, and government researchers and agencies.
Mapping Groundbreaking Research and Interdisciplinary Collaboration
Entanglement 2026 drew over 300 attendees and highlighted significant progress across several critical areas of quantum research and development. Overviews of the ongoing quantum efforts at each MQC university provided a glimpse into the research expertise, education and workforce development activities, and existing major initiatives already in place. Technical talks on a variety of topics allowed faculty, industry, and government researchers to highlight recent advancements. Breakout sessions provided an opportunity to strategize on how to better collaborate and position the Midwest as a leading quantum ecosystem. “The Entanglement meeting has become an important forum for bringing together the researchers, students, industry partners, and government stakeholders who are shaping the future of quantum science in the Midwest,” said Michael Manfra, Purdue’s Chief Quantum Officer and Director of the Purdue Quantum Science and Engineering Institute. “The meeting helps turn regional strength into coordinated action by creating space for new collaborations, shared priorities, and the partnerships needed to move quantum technologies forward.”
Developing a highly skilled quantum workforce was a central theme of the program, which dedicated a main-stage presentation from the MQC Student Taskforce to focus on student initiatives, alongside two poster sessions in the where students and postdocs from across the Midwest presented their research to academic and industry leaders.
Expanding the Midwest Quantum Collaboratory
The addition of five new member universities significantly broadens MQC’s regional reach and deepens its collective capacity in quantum research, education, and translation. By connecting more institutions across the Midwest, the expanded collaboratory creates new pathways for shared infrastructure, coordinated research initiatives, student engagement, and partnerships with industry and government. This growth strengthens the Midwest’s ability to compete for major quantum opportunities and accelerate the development of technologies with national impact.
“Welcoming Indiana University, WashU, Ohio State, UIC, and Northwestern marks an important milestone of the Midwest Quantum Collaboratory,” said Mackillo Kira, Director of MQC and professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the University of Michigan. “Growing from three founding institutions to eight member universities strengthens MQC’s ability to connect regional expertise, share research infrastructure, develop quantum talent, and build the partnerships needed to position the Midwest as a national leader in quantum science and engineering.”
About the Midwest Quantum Collaboratory (MQC)
The Midwest Quantum Collaboratory (MQC) is a coalition of leading academic institutions—Purdue University, the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Indiana University, Washington University in St. Louis, The Ohio State University, the University of Illinois Chicago, and Northwestern University—dedicated to advancing quantum science and technology. The MQC connects regional experts to tackle grand challenges in the quantum field, share research infrastructure, and build the future quantum workforce.
About the Purdue Quantum Science and Engineering Institute (PQSEI)
Located in Discovery Park District, PQSEI fosters the development of practical and impactful aspects of quantum science and focuses on discovering and studying new materials, devices, and basic physical quantum systems that will be suited for integration into tomorrow’s technology. It encourages interdisciplinary collaboration leading to the design and realization of quantum devices with enhanced functionality and performance close to the fundamental limit, aiming to ultimately bring them to a vast community of users. PQSEI faculty work on a broad range of topics in quantum science and engineering including quantum materials and devices, quantum photonics, atomic molecular and optical physics, quantum chemistry, quantum measurement and control, quantum simulation, and quantum information and computing. Finally, PQSEI works to train the next generation of quantum scientists and engineers to meet the growing quantum workforce demands.