DECEMBER 2023 P.14 IMPLEMENTING ROBOTICS IN HEALTHCARE
Tech
P.20 HYPERLOOP: HOPE OR HYPE?
pioneering
DELIVERING ON THE QUANTUM PROMISE
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2 COVER ILLUSTRATION
CONTENTS
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Chandelier “To me, an illustration is not a literal translation from text to image, but it creates a deeper level. With this cover, I want to paint a picture of the quantum computer that has evolved to such an extent in power and appearance that it must be good, but for which we still use a good old spanner 17, so to speak. With its delicate look, without a plastic case, the computer is also a bit like a chandelier that is smarter than we are. Furthermore, we see a retro portal to the future, with a bright blue sky where the moon can still be seen during the day. I find that such a special sight in real life too, and here it symbolises as if we can determine what we conjure up on the horizon during the day in the future. Moreover, it remains crucial to me that humans continue to play a central role in the future, in this case the tough Mad Max-styled engineer.”
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Maus Bullhorst (mausbaus.com)
Colophon Production TU Delft | Innovation & Impact Centre
Jurjen Slump (Editor-in-Chief) Malou Spruit (Art Direction) Annemarie Abma (Marketing & distribution) Jens Kok (Online) Contributing writers Rianne Lindhout, Bennie Mols, Bruno van Wayenburg Infographics & illustrations Maus Bullhorst, Bruno van Wayenburg, Anne-Roos van Ommen Photography Erno Wientjes, Guus Schoonewille Design Ontwerpwerk Concept De Nieuwe Lijn Print Drukkerij van Deventer Copyright TU Delft | Innovation & Impact Centre December 2023
‘ It’s like the construction of the Sagrada Família’ 32
FOREWORD
Accelerating innovation
In this issue
4 Quantum centainty
How research and applications in quantum technology are entangled
14 Together - Robotics in healthcare
In this second edition of Pioneering Tech we once again show how we’re accelerating innovation and creating a positive impact on society. One impressive example is the rise of quantum technology, which is set to make good on its societal promise. QuTech is a global frontrunner in this regard, thanks in part to the institute’s unique combination of research and practical application. Within the ecosystem of collaborating research groups and companies, the number of staff at quantum start-ups now exceeds the number of staff at QuTech itself. While we’re also frontrunners in robotics, it’s still good to touch base every so often. Professor of Haptic HumanRobot Interaction David Abbink ventured to the Erasmus MC workplace to investigate where technology can be of added value to nursing staff and where it expressly cannot. Care robots that just sit there collecting dust will be of no use to anyone. And at next year’s Olympic Games in Paris, it will be not a robot but a Roboat ferrying passengers across the Seine. Although small boats are a great way to transport people and goods in busy cities and ports, there is a real shortage of skippers. AMS Institute start-up Roboat is developing a system for autonomous navigation that can be installed on any type of floating vessel. Might we soon see them on the Dutch canals? In conclusion, we must mention that Pioneering Tech is about more than this great magazine. Visit our platform of the same name and enjoy everything from podcasts to the latest articles on groundbreaking innovation and pioneering collaborations. You can also stay up to date by subscribing to the newsletter.
Technology made by and for professionals
18 Start-up - Roboat No skipper at the helm
20 Daring Dilemma - Hyperloop
Can this new technology deliver on its promise?
Also 12
8 Insights Bob Hendrikx aims to launch a sustainable revolution in the funeral industry
25 Fieldlab SAM XL is a global leader in developing ultrasonic welding for aircraft components
28 The Investor Why investing in software alone is not enough
30 Meanwhile Cloe Innovations: implementing medical devices in low-resource settings in Africa
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Explainer 6G will make communications smarter, more economical and more robust
36 What if Flying from Amsterdam to London on 5 kilograms of liquid hydrogen
PHOTO © GUUS SCHOONEWILLE
Tim van der Hagen, Rector Magnificus / Chairman of the Executive Board
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FUTURE
The inside view of a dilution refrigerator (‘fridge’), used to cool sensitive qubits to their working temperature near absolute zero (-273 degrees Celsius).
QUANTUM CERTAINTY: DELIVERING ON THE QUTECH PROMISE
Quantum certainty: delivering on the QuTech promise HOW RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONS IN QUANTUM TECHNOLOGY ARE ENTANGLED
B y B r un o va n Wa ye nbu r g Photo Ma r i e ke de L o r i jn f o r Qu Te ch
QuTech will reach a remarkable milestone this autumn. ‘We’ll reach the point where the QuTech workforce will be overtaken by the number of people working in quantum startups in Delft’, says Lieven Vandersypen, Director Research of the cooperation between Delft University of Technology and the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO). In other words, the children will outgrow the parent. ‘We’re currently at 300 coworkers and this number will continue to grow’, says Vandersypen, ‘but our startups are growing even faster.’
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FUTURE
It all started as a rather theoretical concept: use some of the more intricate properties of quantum mechanics, the physics of the ultrasmall, to perform certain calculations. You could also transfer information in a fundamentally unbreakable way. Where our every-day computers use bits - units of information that can be 1 or 0 - quantum computing uses quantum bits (qubits), which can be any combination of 1 and 0. Such a qubit could consist of a single elementary particle with the ability to exist in multiple states at the same time. In quantum mechanics, this ability is called a superposition. Inspired by this possibility, physicists started finding several qubit candidates: physical systems that can preserve and manipulate such a quantum mechanical state, which is typically extremely fragile (see box The undecided qubit race).
The quantum revolution After theoretical physicists and mathematicians explored these concepts in the early 2000s, a quantum revolution became imminent. Enticed by applications that no other technology promises, large universities and companies such as IBM, Google, Intel, Microsoft and Fujitsu started working on quantum computers. Two applications loom large in the future of quantum technology. One is the famed quantum computer, which can perform certain specific calculations immeasurably faster than any normal computer could ever achieve. ‘For example, take calculations relating to the structure of molecules and materials’, says Vandersypen. ‘Their behaviour is determined by the behaviour of atoms and electrons, which is inherently quantum mechanics. Imagine designing batteries that are so powerful you only have to charge your phone once a week or making electric cars with enough range to drive from the Netherlands to the south of France on one charge. Or think about more efficient chemical plants, developing drugs to treat incurable diseases, and optimised fertilisers that help to feed us but have less impact on the environment.’ To predict how this future will become a reality, is notoriously difficult, he admits. ‘This is the one application that would have very broad use, but I expect it to be around at least ten years away.’ Another important quantum technology is quantum communication, a form of secure communication that is fundamentally impossible to eavesdrop on. Vandersypen: ‘The quantum nature of the connections and nodes will make any interception inherently detectable.’
‘ Imagine designing batteries that are so powerful you only have to charge your phone once a week’
PHOTOS © QUTECH
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Kees Eijkel, Director of Business Development (above) and Lieven Vandersypen, Director Research of QuTech.
QuTech As research at TU Delft delivered more quantum breakthroughs, QuTech was launched in 2015 with a vision to make the Netherlands a hub for quantum technology. ‘Quantum computing comprises about two-thirds of QuTech research, quantum internet about one-third’, says Vandersypen. ‘QuTech is unique in its broad, horizontal research strategy’, says Kees Eijkel, QuTech’s director of Business Development. ’We don’t know which qubit candidate will turn out to be the most useful for building quantum technology - and there may even be several. Where many parties choose a vertical approach, e.g. one type of qubit, one type of computer, we’re saying that there are several options at every level. We keep working on the options that we believe are still in the race to win.’ ‘Apart from the type of qubit, there is a lot of focus on the number of qubits’, says Lieven Vandersypen. News headlines tout claims of quantum computers comprising ever higher numbers of qubits, with IBM announcing a 433 qubit computer last May. ‘But many other factors come into play’, says Vandersypen. ‘For example, how well you’re able to control your qubits, i.e. the fidelity, is important.’ The quantum information encoded in qubits is inherently fragile. They need to be protected and made to interact with other qubits in precise ways to build quantum applications. A third factor is connectivity, the number of links each qubit can make. Vandersypen: ‘In an ideal world, each qubit could talk to every other qubit. In practice, the qubits can often only talk to their direct neighbours.’
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