Revolutionizing Test and Measurement: How Liquid Instruments is Pioneering Quantum Computing and AI Integration

After joining as bronze sponsors at Quantum.Tech Europe last month, John Miller joined us to explore his thoughts around industry recruiting, his job role and where Liquid Instruments sits within the quantum ecosystem. He has had the privilege of supporting scientists and engineers across Europe who are leveraging our cutting-edge, FPGA-based Moku devices for test and measurement. Having transitioned from a two-decade career in academic research—where I worked on interferometric gravitational wave detectors at institutions like Caltech and MIT—I now apply my expertise to bridge product development and customer needs. My work spans a variety of fields, helping researchers push boundaries with versatile, reconfigurable tools that accelerate experimentation and innovation.

Please give us an introduction on your current role and what you do.

Once an evangelical Liquid Instruments customer, I’m now an applications engineer supporting the European market. Working at the interface of product development and sales, I support scientists and engineers using FPGA-based Moku devices for test and measurement across a range of fields. I pursued academic research related to interferometric gravitational wave detectors at Caltech and MIT for almost two decades before transitioning to a career in industry, where I focused on LiDAR sensors for mobile and automotive applications. I hold M.Sci. and Ph.D. degrees in physics from the University of Glasgow.

Can you give us a little insight into what Liquid Instruments does?

Most test environments are unique and require customised configuration and careful optimisation of multiple instruments, adding cost and time upfront and throughout the test cycle. Liquid Instruments’ reconfigurable Moku is the only test solution that is engineered and optimised for friction-free customisation in both simple tests and complex multi-instrument environments.

In hundreds of labs around the world, Moku has accelerated the timeline of crossing from idea to implementation by an order of magnitude, reducing the time and cost of advanced research and development. Because reconfigurable Moku test solutions are engineered by a team of distinguished research scientists to be easy to use and versatile, they deliver efficiency gains in the most complex test scenarios today and meet ongoing needs in the future. Experience Moku cost-free by requesting a demo today at liquidinstruments.com.

What is the most exciting proof of concept you have worked on in the past 12 months?

This year, we introduced a new instrument to our reconfigurable suite of test and measurement instruments — the Moku Time & Frequency Analyser — to accelerate and simplify applications such as quantum key distribution. Like all Moku instruments, the Time & Frequency Analyser is built on a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) to deliver maximum flexibility for users.

It combines the functionality of a time interval analyser, event counter, and frequency analyser, offering a versatile tool for applications like photon counting, oscillator characterisation, X-ray diffraction, free-space optical communications, and pulse-width modulation decoding. It precisely measures the number of events and the time interval between events, configured through an easy-to-use interface. Users can leverage the four-channel Time & Frequency Analyser to detect entangled photon pairs via a Hanbury-Brown-Twiss configuration and quickly view the correlation statistics in real time as they populate — all with zero dead time, on one piece of hardware. We also have another new instrument coming that will help users accelerate their experiments even more with the power of machine learning. Check back soon on our website for more details.

There has been a huge amount of discussion in the first half of the year around generative AI. What do you see as the future relationship between generative AI and quantum computing?

When it comes to test and measurement, a reconfigurable, software-first approach provides a huge opportunity to integrate with the development of AI-based quantum computing applications. For example, researchers at quantum computing startup Floquet AI in Australia are using Moku instruments to automate laser beam alignment, which is traditionally a manual and tedious process, and advance machine learning capabilities to physical systems. Floquet integrated their Deep Learning Optimiser (DLO) — a machine learning system designed for optimising quantum and other complex systems — with Moku:Go, enabling the automatic alignment of a laser beam to an optical cavity. The automated, DLO-driven system definitively outperforms expert human operators in alignment speed for comparable or better alignment quality.

How do you source the best talent when looking for the next quantum trailblazers to join your organisation?

We’re always looking for new talent to help us redefine the future of test and measurement with flexible, FPGA-based instrumentation. Our headquarters are in Canberra, Australia, and we just opened a new office in Melbourne, where we plan to hire dozens of new employees in high-tech roles, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, computer science, and advanced manufacturing.

We also have an office in San Diego in the United States, plus remotely distributed team members around the world. We encourage interested applicants to check out our open positions and apply here today.