Bringing Scientists Together for Quantum Collaboration

On June 7th, 2024, the United Nations declared 2025 as the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology (IYQ). In recognition of this historic proclamation, the LSU American Physical Society (APS) Chapter was proud to host the 2025 Q-Net Symposium, a one-day conference of talks and networking events focused on cutting-edge quantum science and technology.

This inaugural symposium was initiated by the executive board of the LSU APS Chapter, including PhD candidates, Phong Dang, Joseph Henning, Emelly Tiburcio, and Valarie Milton. 

In alignment with the initial goal, the event provided an incredible opportunity for LSU students and postdocs to present their research in a professional, conference-style setting with the spirit of celebrating IYQ. More importantly, the event had a profound impact on the undergraduate and junior graduate student participants; as for many of them, this was the first time that they had an opportunity to showcase their research work via a 12-minute presentation in front of experts across different disciplines. These dialogues not only connected various fields of research but also enabled mentorship between scientists across all stages of their career. 

Plenary talks featured, Dr. Mette Gaarde, LSU Les and Dot Broussard Alumni Professor, presenting “Attosecond science: making movies of very fast electron dynamics,” 2009 LSU PhD alumnus Dr. Ryan Glasser, Associate Professor at Tulane University, discussing “Artificial intelligence in the NISQ era,” and Dr. Daniel Massatt, Assistant Professor from LSU Mathematics, presenting “Moiré materials from the perspective of momentum space.”

“We were excited to have participation from students of other departments,” said Dang. “This was a rare opportunity that students across campus were able to learn about research projects conducted within LSU.” 

Dang, the chair of the APS Chapter, has been an APS student ambassador for LSU since December of 2023. We are proudly the first institution from Louisiana to have an ambassador from APS. His goal is to strongly promote the APS to the student body within the P&A department by sharing resources from the APS and promoting how to get engaged with activities of the APS. 

“The symposium strengthened LSU as Louisiana’s flagship institution in research and associated activities,” said Dang. “In fact, it was also open to nearby universities and was well received by researchers outside of LSU, including Tulane and Southern Universities.” 

This event fostered a strong sense of collaboration. First, the organizing committee included other members of the APS Chapter, primarily graduate students, Kenneth Beard, Trang Huynh, Evander Espinoza, Paula Calizaya Cabrera, Shriya Hirve, Dolly Nambi, Dillon Harris, Dr. Beatriz Elizaga de Navascues, Eric Borowski, and Mohammad Ali Boroumand. The event was also made possible with the help from three LSU P&A faculty members, Dr. Michela Negro, Dr. Justin Wilson, Dr. Ivan Agullo, and two staff members, Mimi LaValle and Olivia Crowell. 

The Q-Net Symposium was made possible by generous sponsors: LSU Center for Computation and Technology, LSU Student Government, The American Physical Society Chapter at LSU, LSU Department of Physics & Astronomy, The Erdos Institute, Quantum CodeX, LSU Hearne Institute, LSU Physics Graduate Student Organization, LSU Society of Physics Students, Astronomy on Tap Baton Rouge, and the LSU AI Journal Club.

To learn more about the symposium, visit https://sites.google.com/view/lsuqnet/home.

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Contact: Mimi LaValle

LSU Physics & Astronomy

225-439-5633

mlavall@lsu.edu