Making the quantum leap
Case student introduces classmates to the world of quantum computing
Caden Kacmarynski, an engineering physics major, started the university’s first quantum computing club. It meets in the Rockefeller Building.
Quantum computing is a radical new field that is daunting to scientists and students alike. But senior physics engineering major Caden Kacmarynski ‘24 is conquering the topic and bringing Case students with him. Kacmarynski started the university’s first Quantum Computing Club, which aims to introduce the campus community to a new era of computing.
Quantum computing supports the greater processing power modern computers need in a microscopic package. Current computers use transistors, but as innovation leads computers in the path of smaller devices, it becomes harder to downsize a computers’ individual components. Instead of using a transistor, quantum computers only need a single atom for information processing.
Quantum computing is a niche within the interdisciplinary sciences, but Kacmarynski knew he wanted to study quantum computing since his early high school years.
Whiteboard work at a recent club meeting.
“I heard about Moore’s Law, which is basically the rate at which semiconductors double and that’s how our computers were going in the past,” he said. “It was leveling out, so change was needed. Changing to a different kind of computer, like quantum computers, is the conclusion that we’ve come to.”
Kacmarynski, a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and a former lineman for the Spartan football team, was initially enrolled as a physics major. But he quickly found his home in the engineering physics program.
“I really couldn’t decide between computer engineering or physics. I ended up getting the best of both worlds with the engineering physics program,” he said.
Through the program, he was able to further explore his passion for quantum computing and he found like-minded classmates ready to introduce CWRU to the quantum realm. Working with recent alumnus Adrian Harkness ‘23, Kacmarynski founded the Case Quantum Computing Club in the spring of 2022.
Professor Frank Merat ’72, MS ’75, PhD ’78, chatted with club members as they displayed project work at an Intersections poster session.
Now he wants to show students that quantum computing is the future, and there is no time like the present to learn about it, even if it seems unapproachable at first.
The club hosts an array of events, from speaker series to quantum computing workshops, and participates in hackathons. It also plans to collaborate with professors teaching Quantum Computing, Information, and Devices, which is a collaborative effort between the math, physics, engineering and computer sciences departments.
In February, the club took first place at MIT’s iQuHACK hackathon in the Amazon Web Service challenge. Later this spring, the club will be competing in the QRISE, a six-week quantum competition created by the Quantum Coalition. Led by Kacmarynski, the coalition is a community of quantum computing student organizations across the country.
“Our goal is to lower the bridge to entry to quantum computing,” he said. “It sounds like a scary topic. Yes, the math and physics can be complicated when you dive deep, but the basic concepts and the way it will impact the world is something that everyone should be aware of.”
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