IU Chemistry Alum, Dr. James S. Clarke, was appointed by President Biden to the National Quantum Initiative Advisory Committee (NQIAC) this past December. The White House Announcement details this appointment here.
Dr. Clarke is the Director of the Quantum Hardware research group within Intel’s Components Research Organization. Dr. Clarke launched Intel’s Quantum Computing effort in 2015. His group’s primary focus is to use Intel’s process expertise to develop scalable qubit arrays on 300 mm wafers. Prior to his current role, Dr. Clarke managed a group focused on interconnect research at advanced technology nodes as well as evaluating new materials and paradigms for interconnect performance. He has also co-authored more than 100 papers and has over 50 patents. Prior to joining Intel in 2001, Dr. Clarke completed a B.S. in Chemistry at Indiana University, a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry at Harvard University, and a post-doctoral fellowship in physical organic chemistry at ETH, Zürich.
Intel’s quantum program uses their advanced chip fabrication line located in Hillsboro, Oregon. There, Dr. Clarke and his team fabricate quantum devices and then test them at temperatures less than 1 Kelvin. His team engages with university groups around the world on testing Intel’s devices. In the coming years, he hopes to extend Intel’s engagements with NSF’s Industry-University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC) at Indiana University and Purdue through the Center for Quantum Technologies (CQT).
In communication about his time as an undergraduate, Dr. Clarke expressed great pride in the statement that IU Chemistry helped make him who he is today. His research with Prof. Steve Creager, now at Clemson University, focused on self-assembled monolayers which resulted in one of his first published papers (Langmuir, 1994, 10, 3675-3683). In addition, Clarke was an undergraduate teaching assistant for the Organic Chemistry lab for four semesters. During his junior and senior years, Dr. Clarke was introduced as “Mr. Magic” during Prof. Dennis Peters’ “Magic of Chemistry” shows.
The National Quantum Initiative Advisory Committee (NQIAC) is the Federal Advisory Committee called for in the National Quantum Initiative (NQI) Act. The NQIAC is tasked with providing an independent assessment of the NQI Program and to make recommendations for the President, Congress, the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Subcommittee on Quantum Information Science, and the NSTC Subcommittee on Economic and Security Implications of Quantum Science to consider when reviewing and revising the NQI Program. The NQIAC consists of leaders in the field from industry, academia, and the federal laboratories. The NQIAC was first established by Executive Order 13885 on August 30, 2019 and subsequently enhanced by Executive Order 14073 on May 4, 2022, which elevated the committee to