Quantum Engineering
Program Director
Eliot Kapit, Associate Professor, Physics
Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics
Cecilia Diniz Behn, Associate Professor
Department of Computer Science
Neil Dantam, Assistant Professor
Dinesh Mehta, Professor
Hua Wang, Associate Professor
Bo Wu, Associate Professor
Dejun Yang, Associate Professor
Hao Zhang, Associate Professor
Department of Electrical Engineering
Peter Aaen, Professor
Payam Nayeri, Assistant Professor
Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering
Geoff Brennecka, Associate Professor
Brian Gorman, Associate Professor
Andriy Zakutayev, Research Assistant Professor
Department of Physics
Lincoln Carr, Professor
Serena Eley, Assistant Professor
Zhexuan Gong, Assistant Professor
Eliot Kapit, Associate Professor
Kyle Leach, Associate Professor
Meenakshi Singh, Assistant Professor
Affiliated Faculty
Matt Beard, Joint Appointment, NREL and Chemistry
Justin Johnson, Joint Appointment, NREL and Physics
Adele Tamboli, Joint Appointment, NREL and Physics
Program Requirements
Quantum Engineering is an interdisciplinary program that seeks to equip students for careers in emerging technologies based on quantum entanglement. It encompasses a wide range of disciplines that include physics, materials science, computer science, and mathematics, and is necessarily a collaborative effort among many Mines departments. Two Master’s degrees and one Graduate certificate are offered.
For both degrees and the graduate certificate, Quantum Engineering has two "tracks" as summarized below. The Quantum Engineering Hardware (QEH) track will focus on experimental techniques relevant to quantum technology, while the Quantum Engineering Software (QES) track will focus on theory, algorithms and simulation. Students must choose a track to complete the program, but they may take courses from both tracks provided they meet the prerequisite requirements.
MS Degree Curriculum Requirements:
A Master of Science in Quantum Engineering will consist of 30 total credits. Students may choose a thesis or non-thesis option for this degree. For the thesis option, 9 credits out of the 30 are devoted to thesis research leading to an acceptable Master's thesis. Students choosing the non-thesis option will devote all 30 credits to coursework. Regardless of the option chosen, 9 of the coursework credits will be devoted to the required core classes for the chosen track.
Reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of the program, we strongly recommend to our students that at least 9 total credits of the MS degree coursework should come from courses in a department outside of the student's undergraduate major. The required core courses, if outside of the student's major, would count towards this recommendation. Our guiding philosophy is that the problem of building a quantum computer is a complex, interdisciplinary one which requires contributions from a vast array of subfields, and young scientists who appreciate this will likely have a far better perspective on the field than those who do not.
MS Non-Thesis Software Track
| PHGN519 | FUNDAMENTALS OF QUANTUM INFORMATION | 3.0 |
| CSCI581 | QUANTUM PROGRAMMING | 3.0 |
| PHGN545 | QUANTUM MANY-BODY PHYSICS | 3.0 |
| Electives | 21.0 | |
| Total Semester Hrs | 30.0 | |
MS Non-Thesis Hardware Track
| PHGN519 | FUNDAMENTALS OF QUANTUM INFORMATION | 3.0 |
| PHGN435/535 | INTERDISCIPLINARY MICROELECTRONICS PROCESSING LABORATORY | 3.0 |
| EENG532 | LOW TEMPERATURE MICROWAVE MEASUREMENTS FOR QUANTUM ENGINEERING | 3.0 |
| Electives | 21.0 | |
| Total Semester Hrs | 30.0 | |
MS Thesis Software Track
| PHGN519 | FUNDAMENTALS OF QUANTUM INFORMATION | 3.0 |
| CSCI581 | QUANTUM PROGRAMMING | 3.0 |
| PHGN545 | QUANTUM MANY-BODY PHYSICS | 3.0 |
| Electives | 12.0 | |
| PHGN707 | GRADUATE THESIS / DISSERTATION RESEARCH CREDIT | 9.0 |
| Total Semester Hrs | 30.0 | |
MS Thesis Hardware Track
| PHGN519 | FUNDAMENTALS OF QUANTUM INFORMATION | 3.0 |
| PHGN435/535 | INTERDISCIPLINARY MICROELECTRONICS PROCESSING LABORATORY | 3.0 |
| EENG/PHGN532 | LOW TEMPERATURE MICROWAVE MEASUREMENTS FOR QUANTUM ENGINEERING | 3.0 |
| Electives | 12.0 | |
| PHGN707 | GRADUATE THESIS / DISSERTATION RESEARCH CREDIT | 9.0 |
| Total Semester Hrs | 30.0 | |
Coursework Details:
QES students will be required to take these courses in the following sequence:
In the Fall:
- PHGN519, Fundamentals of Quantum Information
In the Spring:
QEH students will be required to take these courses in the following sequence:
In the Fall:
- PHGN519, Fundamentals of Quantum Information
In the Spring:
- PHGN435/PHGN535, Interdisciplinary Silicon Processing Laboratory
- PHGN532, Low Temperature Microwave Measurements for Quantum Applications
Approved Electives:
| Physics Electives | ||
| PHGN440 | SOLID STATE PHYSICS | 3.0 |
| PHGN441 | SOLID STATE PHYSICS APPLICATIONS AND PHENOMENA | 3.0 |
| PHGN466/566 | MODERN OPTICAL ENGINEERING | 3.0 |
| PHGN480 | LASER PHYSICS | 3.0 |
| PHGN520 | QUANTUM MECHANICS I | 3.0 |
| PHGN521 | QUANTUM MECHANICS II | 3.0 |
| PHGN530 | STATISTICAL MECHANICS | 3.0 |
| PHGN550 | NANOSCALE PHYSICS AND TECHNOLOGY | 3.0 |
| PHGN585 | NONLINEAR OPTICS | 3.0 |
| Computer Science Electives | ||
| CSCI542 | SIMULATION | 3.0 |
| CSCI563 | PARALLEL COMPUTING FOR SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS | 3.0 |
| CSCI564 | ADVANCED COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE | 3.0 |
| CSCI571 | ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | 3.0 |
| CSCI474 | INTRODUCTION TO CRYPTOGRAPHY | 3.0 |
| CSCI575 | ADVANCED MACHINE LEARNING | 3.0 |
| CSCI580 | ADVANCED HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPUTING | 3.0 |
| Electrical Engineering Electives | ||
| EENG509 | SPARSE SIGNAL PROCESSING | 3.0 |
| EENG417/517 | MODERN CONTROL DESIGN | 3.0 |
| EENG526 | ADVANCED ELECTROMAGNETICS | 3.0 |
| EENG528 | COMPUTATIONAL ELECTROMAGNETICS | 3.0 |
| EENG529 | ACTIVE RF & MICROWAVE DEVICES | 3.0 |
| EENG530 | PASSIVE RF & MICROWAVE DEVICES | 3.0 |
| EENG617 | INTELLIGENT CONTROL SYSTEMS | 3.0 |
| EENG618 | NONLINEAR AND ADAPTIVE CONTROL | 3.0 |
| Metallurgy and Material Engineering Electives | ||
| MTGN456 | ELECTRON MICROSCOPY | 2.0 |
| Materials Science Electives | ||
| MLGN593 | BONDING, STRUCTURE, AND CRYSTALLOGRAPHY | 3.0 |
| Applied Mathematics and Statistics Electives | ||
| MATH408 | COMPUTATIONAL METHODS FOR DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS | 3.0 |
| MATH436 | ADVANCED STATISTICAL MODELING | 3.0 |
| MATH438 | STOCHASTIC MODELS | 3.0 |
| MATH510 | ORDINARY DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS AND DYNAMICAL SYSTEMS | 3.0 |
| MATH551 | COMPUTATIONAL LINEAR ALGEBRA | 3.0 |
| Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences Electives | ||
| HASS423 | ADVANCED SCIENCE COMMUNICATION | 3.0 |
Mines' Combined Undergraduate / Graduate Degree Program:
Students enrolled in Mines’ combined undergraduate/graduate program may double count up to six credits of graduate coursework to fulfill requirements of both their undergraduate and graduate degree programs. These courses must have been passed with “B-” or better, not be substitutes for required coursework, and meet all other University, Department, and Program requirements for graduate credit.
Students are advised to consult with their undergraduate and graduate advisors for appropriate courses to double count upon admission to the combined program.
Graduate Certificate Curriculum Requirements:
The certificate option consists of three of the four new courses, plus one additional elective chosen from the above list, for a total of 12 credits.
Graduate Certificate, Software Track
| PHGN519 | FUNDAMENTALS OF QUANTUM INFORMATION | 3.0 |
| CSCI581 | QUANTUM PROGRAMMING | 3.0 |
| PHGN545 | QUANTUM MANY-BODY PHYSICS | 3.0 |
| Elective | 3.0 | |
| Total Semester Hrs | 12.0 | |
Graduate Certificate, Hardware Track
| PHGN519 | FUNDAMENTALS OF QUANTUM INFORMATION | 3.0 |
| PHGN435/535 | INTERDISCIPLINARY MICROELECTRONICS PROCESSING LABORATORY | 3.0 |
| EENG/PHGN532 | LOW TEMPERATURE MICROWAVE MEASUREMENTS FOR QUANTUM ENGINEERING | 3.0 |
| Elective | 3.0 | |
| Total Semester Hrs | 12.0 | |