Dow and 1QBit Collaborate to Explore Quantum Computing for Materials Science Innovation

The Dow Chemical Company and 1QB Information Technologies (1QBit) have struck a collaborative agreement to create quantum computing tools for the Chemicals and Materials Science technology sectors.

By incorporating Dow’s unique innovation capabilities with 1QBit’s leading expertise in the advancement of applications for quantum computing, the two companies will speed up the deployment of Quantum Computing across a variety of applications related to the chemical industry.

Our preliminary work with 1QBit has been very encouraging. Together with 1QBit, we have achieved ‘proof of concept’ for the application of quantum computing in areas relevant to Dow. With this new, multi-year agreement, we intend to develop a robust capability in the quantum computing space, further advancing our world-class innovation capabilities and maximizing shareholder return.

A.N. Sreeram, Senior Vice President and R&D and Chief Technology Officer, Dow

The partnership will boost Dow’s discovery process by forging a strong fundamental understanding of new materials and chemicals. The mixture of next-generation computational methodologies with experimental design will stimulate new acceleration of process and product development.

We are pleased to be working with Dow on leading-edge quantum computing software development for the material sciences. Dow brings a powerful science machine and global market access in the chemical and materials sectors. We have been very impressed with the quality of the opportunity uncovered in the initial phases of this collaboration.

Andrew Fursman, Chief Executive Officer, 1QBit

The mission of 1QBit is to use innovations in computation to machine intelligence and optimization science through a extensively accessible, hardware-agnostic software system. In the past four years, 1QBit has formulated new techniques for machine learning, sampling and optimization based on reformulating problems to meet the novel needs of interfacing with quantum computers and maximizing their capabilities.

“We continue to push technology to the next level,” said Keith Watson, vice president, Core R&D, for Dow. “This collaboration will allow Dow to bring forward breakthrough innovations that solve complex problems and serve our markets."

The terms of the agreement were not divulged.