The international journal Electronic Markets recently published an interview with Heike Riel of IBM Research. Dr. Riel is a Fellow at IBM Research in Zurich and a leading researcher in the field of quantum computing. After completing her undergraduate and doctoral degrees in physics, she earned an MBA and received honorary doctorates and the IEEE Andrew S. Grove Award, among other honors, for her work.
In this interview with Rainer Alt, she first explains how IBM's approach to universal quantum computing differs from more specialized quantum annealers, which are more limited in their range of applications. In a second step, she reports how the performance of these quantum computers from IBM has increased and is expected to continue to increase in the coming years. While she mentions current challenges and potential limitations, the interview also points out the many potential applications associated with quantum computers. Examples include optimization and simulation problems that can be found in many industries from the natural sciences to manufacturing and finance. The interview concludes with a reflection on potential risks (e.g., in encryption algorithms) and expectations for the future.
The article is freely available at the following link: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12525-022-00616-1