- September 25, 2026
- By Chris Carroll
Decades of fundamental quantum research, a sharp focus on commercialization, and close ties with federal labs and industry led to the launch in College Park of IonQ, the first dedicated quantum computing and networking firm to go public.
Doubling down on all those elements means it’s only a matter of time until another world-class quantum company takes root in the University of Maryland’s growing quantum ecosystem, UMD President Darryll J. Pines told an audience of several hundred on Thursday at the 2026 Quantum World Congress.
"The next IonQ is just around the corner because of our commitment to fundamental research that leads over time to breakthroughs that are then commercialized and brought to market," Pines said.
UMD is the lead academic partner for the three-day conference, which is being held for the first time in College Park and ends Friday. The more than 2,000 registrants for the event at the Hotel at the University of Maryland come from around the globe and include tech companies large and small from the quantum industry and beyond, entrepreneurs, investors, public officials, academic researchers and representatives of government science agencies.
UMD and Discovery District Maryland are central to the Capital of Quantum, a phrase coined by Pines and deployed by Gov. Wes Moore to brand the statewide initiative to center the emerging global quantum industry in Maryland. Launched in 2025, the initiative aims to leverage the region’s wealth of research institutions, government labs and tech companies to stoke economic development and create jobs in the state while building an industry with the potential to transform fields from medicine and materials science to secure communications and national security.
Moore announced earlier this week that a goal set in early 2025 to raise $1 billion in public-private funding for Capital of Quantum investments in five years had reached $500 million in under two.
“When we invest in quantum, we're investing in that student that wants to build a career inside the field. … We are building a pathway for that entrepreneur who can turn an idea into a business,” Moore said at the Quantum World Congress on Thursday. “I believe firmly that the future of job growth is in quantum, the future of wealth creation is in quantum, the future of economic prosperity is in quantum, and that is why I want Maryland to be the global Capital of Quantum.”
UMD has poured enormous energy and resources into supporting quantum, Pines said Thursday, increasingly making Discovery District Maryland, located just steps from the campus, “the place for quantum, not just in Maryland but in the world.”
As evidence, he pointed to the opening there earlier this week of the Discovery Center, a quantum R&D facility that is home to a new Microsoft quantum research lab. Company officials have described it as key to the global tech giant’s quantum computing development strategy.
The Discovery Center’s other tenants include U.K.-based Quantum Motion, which builds silicon-based quantum computers using standard semiconductor manufacturing processes. Another British firm, Riverlane, which specializes in quantum error correction, announced in recent days it will house its U.S. headquarters there. Finland-based IQM, a maker of superconducting quantum hardware, is opening its first U.S. quantum technology center in the building. QuEra Computing, whose neutral-atom Aquila system is available through UMD's National Quantum Laboratory (QLab), will have an office connecting it to university researchers. UMD's Quantum Startup Foundry is also moving its labs and offices into the building, where it will run TraQtion, its market accelerator, and Pre-TraQtion, a program that helps earlier-stage startups pursue grant funding.
The foundation for all this development was built by researchers on campus, Pines said. Vital centers such as the Joint Quantum Institute—a collaboration between UMD and the National Institute of Standards and Technology—have anchored decades of UMD’s quantum science leadership.
In recent months, two campus research centers received votes of confidence from the National Science Foundation (NSF), which renewed funding for the NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institute for Robust Quantum Simulation with $37.5 million, and the Center for Quantum Networks, with $18.6 million in new funding. Collectively, Pines said, the two centers are creating patented technology and spinning off new quantum businesses.
Alex Cronin, a quantum science program director for the National Science Foundation, speaks with Gov. Wes Moore at the Quantum World Congress. (Photo by John T. Consoli)
From left, SVP Chief Quantum Office Preeti Chalsani of the Illinois Economic Development Corporation, the Company Lab CEO Tasia Malakasis, QantumCT Director of External Affairs and Ecosystem Development Esme Lombard and Capital of Quantum President Ken Ulman participate in a panel discussion on how innovation districts can help build quantum communities during the Quantum World Congress on Thursday. (Photo by Dylan Singleton)
Among the dozens of other presenters over the three days was Prince George’s County Executive Aisha N. Braveboy, who said the county is positioning itself to support the Capital of Quantum initiative, which she said can create opportunities for local entrepreneurs and job seekers.
“We believe and we have demonstrated the Prince George’s County is the home of quantum,” Braveboy said.
In a panel discussion Thursday led by Corey Stambaugh, director of the Capital of Quantum, business executives in the quantum space talked about how the growing density of quantum assets in the area had influenced their firms’ investments.
According to Mayur Patel, chief financial officer and chief operations officer at Quantum Motion, working closely with universities like UMD is mutually beneficial. Doctoral students get support for their research projects while contributing to the company’s success; in the longer term, this helps build a future quantum industry workforce and leadership.
“Partnership to us is not a one-way partnership, it’s a two-way partnership, and we have to go down this road,” Patel said.
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Research