Interview: Mohammad Choucair, CEO, Archer Materials

What are you most looking forward to at the Quantum.Tech conference?

I look forward to contributing to the exciting multistakeholder cooperation between academic research and commercial endeavours within the quickly emerging industry sector of quantum computing. Having attended last year’s QT conference in Boston, I am looking forward to continuing to grow our company’s network, discussions with our existing colleagues, forming new quantum alliances, and gaining a better understanding of the leading trends, risks, and opportunities in commercial development over the next 6-12 months.

What do you think are the biggest challenges facing the adoption of Quantum technology in 2020?

Currently some of the highest-value in the quantum computing economy is derived from technology development and demonstrating, through quantum community consensus, universally agreed upon technical milestones. Translating this high value-add to some sort of practical use by millions of end-users is challenging. Fundamentally, materials are the tangible physical basis of all technology, so it would be prudent to consider new and existing materials that have the potential for rapid deployment and prototyping to address wide-scale use of quantum computing powered technology. At Archer we believe that transparency, accountability, and credibility around materials research and development is a necessary part of any solution to adopting quantum computing in 2020.

Looking ahead a year from now, how do you see the adoption of Quantum computing progressing?

Many quantum computers currently use processors that can only operate at low temperatures and/or are difficult to integrate in modern electronics, limiting ownership and use. We believe that the successful development of Archer’s 12CQ qubit processor chip over the next few years could potentially overcome both the limitations of low operating temperatures and electronic device integration for qubits and would represent a potential solution to the widespread use and ownership of quantum computing powered technology by businesses and consumers, fundamentally for end-uses that are driven by basic human transactions: communication and finance.

What is going to be the biggest area of focus for your organisation within Quantum over the next 12 months?

Archer is focused on developing its 12CQ technology that aims to build a quantum computing qubit processor chip. We use a unique carbon-based qubit material that has the potential to enable chip operation at room-temperature and integration onboard modern electronic devices. Even though we are at an early-stage of development compared to existing well-known qubit architectures, we have in a short period of time demonstrated the ability to position and pattern our qubits, a key early stage success factor demonstrating the possibility of scalability, and as such we have now advanced towards and started the hard-core physics of control and read-out of individual physical qubits.

Top tips: How can you best engage and support the business to adopt Quantum technologies?

Australia forms a significant part of the growing quantum computing economy, however there are currently limited opportunities for on-market investment and exposure to financial returns from quantum computing technology. Archer is one of very few companies globally that provides investors a direct, on-market opportunity to invest in quantum computing technology. By making quantum computing technology investment more commercially accessible to the general public, sophisticated investors, and institutes alike, especially on well-regarded and regulated exchanges, it opens up more transparency in the operations, financial, and technology risk associated with the technology development and commercialisation. This higher level of scrutiny can result in the identification of challenges and opportunities for greater engagement, and importantly, value creation.

Top tips: What is the best single piece of advice you can give to an enterprise looking to start their Quantum journey?

Do not underestimate the power of collective human achievement. Quantum anything is not a fast follower field, so you need the right people, IP, technology and infrastructure. This requires dedication and a commitment to excellence. The good news from a commercial perspective is that there are few companies with large market share, giving rise to potential opportunities for M&A based on disruptive technology integration. This type of M&A activity is a hallmark of success in the computing industry. Some of the most successful technology companies were built by and led by smart people who got things done, so it can be your advantage to be small with a disruptive or revolutionary solution. This is why we don’t feel discouraged about what we are doing and capable of at Archer.

If you look 3 years into the future, what do you consider will be the biggest impact Quantum technology will have on your industry?

Quantum computing technology has the potential to significantly advance the fields of materials chemistry to enable the full lifecycle of a circular materials economy. The materials economy has thrived thanks to the contribution of materials to the lives of billions of people on Earth. For a materials-related economy to continue to flourish, the materials sector must use every opportunity to develop a more circular concept to consumption, especially exploiting current rapid rates of technological change in quantum computing.

Likewise, materials that enable quantum information processing could transform all industries that depend on computational power and are at the heart of some of the biggest challenges in quantum computing. Using materials to process quantum information could lead to the design and synthesis of new materials (e.g. better catalysts, drugs and pollutant absorbers) that can turn the materials economy into a positive, virtuous feedback loop. Materials’ advances towards practical quantum computing over the next few years represents potential multibillion-dollar economic drivers.

What is your biggest professional achievement to date?

Apart from leading Archer Materials, I greatly enjoyed my time serving a 2-year mandate on the World Economic Forum Global Future Council for Advanced Materials, where I had the opportunity, together with a some of the most wonderfully talented people around the world, to make a positive contribution to the future governance requirements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

To view when Mohammad is speaking at Quantum.Tech London, visit: https://www.quantumtechcongress.co.uk/speakers/mohammad-choucair