Burnaby NOW • Friday, September 27, 2013 • A11
13 Top 5 Things To Do
15 Meet Luca Fogale
17 Lively City
SECTION COORDINATOR Janaya Fuller-Evans, 604-444-3024 jfuller-evans@burnabynow.com
MOVERS & SHAKERS Janaya Fuller-Evans
Baristas battle in Burnaby B
aristas, rev those steamers – the Western Regional Barista Championship is happening this weekend. The supplier showcase and competition takes place at Artigiano Roasting Co. at 105-2999 Underhill Ave. on Saturday and Sunday and is open to the public. The showcase runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to a press release from the organizers, and the competition is from noon to 6 p.m. There is also an after-party at Caffè Artigiano’s 740 West Hastings St. location on Sunday, according to the release. For more information on the after-party, go to Caffè Artigiano locations or email info@caffeartigiano.com. “The competition features baristas preparing a series of espressobased beverages in a very tight window of time for a discerning panel of official coffee judges. Judges rate the competitors on taste, design, speed, showmanship and creativity. As the premier regional event in Canada, organizers are encouraging competitors from cafés and restaurants to sign up. The competition is open to both novices and seasoned operators alike, and some fabulous prizes are available to be won,” the release states. “The winner of the regional competition will secure a spot in Canadian National Barista Competition taking place Oct. 20 and 21 at the Vancouver Convention Centre.”
Tree of Life in Burnaby Shoppers Drug Mart started its annual Tree of Life campaign this month. The campaign, which began on Sept. 14 and runs until Oct. 11, will support maternity care at Burnaby Hospital, according to the Burnaby Hospital Foundation. Those interested in supporting the campaign can purchase and personalize a paper leaf for $1, a butterfly for $5, an acorn for $10 or a cardinal for $50, according to the foundation. The items are displayed on the Tree of Life in the store. The campaign supporting the hospital is taking place at three Shoppers Drug Mart locations
Tree Page 12
Stefania Seccia/burnaby now
Multiverse: Geordie Rose, co-founder of the D-Wave quantum computing company, spoke about the possibility of parallel universes at the recent opening of the company’s new facility.
For video of Geordie Rose & more photos, scan with
City company takes quantum leap Janaya Fuller-Evans staff reporter
While Burnaby may not be the centre of the universe, it may be the place where parallel universes meet, according to physicist Geordie Rose. Rose, who is co-founder and chief technology officer of the D-Wave quantum computing company, spoke at the opening of the company’s new facility in Burnaby about the possibility that D-Wave’s quantum computer chips may connect parallel universes, if parallel universes do indeed exist. “Remember, when you look at one of those big, black boxes, inside that thing is this chip, that if this multiple universe thing has some validity to it, is kind of the nexus point where these multiple parallel realities touch,” he said. “There’s a thing inside that box that is unlike any other engineered artifact that any other human has ever built or operated, where, if it’s in fact true these things are in fact coexisting, the shadows of these parallel universes touch inside that box, which is super, super awesome.” Rose was speaking to investors and the media about the potential for the company’s computers. “Quantum computing, in one way of looking at things, is nothing less than going in and touching the deepest fabric of spacetime, and with our brains and our technology and our tools, sticking our fingers in
the guts of reality and just kneading the hell out of it, and making it do what we want,” he said, adding, “This kneading the guts of the fundamental fabric of spacetime allows you to solve problems that you couldn’t otherwise solve, computational problems that matter, ones that are at the core of the reasons we don’t have intelligent machines today.” The issue of artificial intelligence is a big focus for the company, as clients such as Google and NASA are looking for computers that can take on work that requires a level of intelligence, such as speech technology and image recognition. “Ultimately what I want to do is turn the power of this new kind of machine against that particular kind of problem,” Rose said. “Because if you can make inroads in that, the business opportunities are unbounded. The kind of paradigm shift that will come from the creation of intelligent machines, of the sort of intelligence that humans have, is underappreciated how big of a difference it’s going to be in the world.” The company’s president and CEO, Vern Brownell, also spoke about the potential of the company’s computers, such as finding new medicines, a cure for cancer or “finding bad guys in large data streams.” D-Wave recently relocated from its first Burnaby location on Still Creek Avenue to a much larger facility on Beta Avenue. The opening of the new facility included a tour of D-Wave’s operations, demonstrating the components of its D-Wave Two
computers. The 512-qubit (quantum bit) computers are built using components that are primarily created – and invented – in shop. The chips must be kept at extremely cold temperatures in a completely noiseless environment to perform on a quantum level. The processors are kept in large refrigeration units and operate at –273.14 degrees Celsius, colder than deep space. The computers operate extremely quickly, able to process huge amounts of data in a short amount of time, and compute large amounts of variables for solving particular problems. D-Wave was founded in 1999 and is the world’s first commercial quantum computing company, building computers using quantum mechanical theories. The company has more than 100 granted U.S. patents and does a great deal of scientific research – the company has published more than 60 peer-reviewed scientific papers thus far. Its investors include In-Q-Tel (a not-forprofit venture capital firm that funds hightech projects that may benefit the CIA and other intelligence organizations), Goldman Sachs and others. The company sold its first computer to Lockheed Martin in 2010 and upgraded that system this year. Earlier this year, the company installed its new computer at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffet Field, California. For more information, visit www. dwavesys.com.