Pioneering quantum computing company Quantinuum has signed a collaboration agreement with Rolls-Royce, Riverlane and EPCC, the UK National Supercomputing Centre based at the University of Edinburgh, to explore how fault-tolerant quantum computing could support future industrial design and simulation, with an initial focus on gas turbine design.
According to Quantinuum, the multi-year collaboration will investigate how quantum computing could complement high-performance computing by improving complex fluid dynamics simulations, which are widely used in gas turbine design but require increasing computational resources as simulation models become more detailed.
Under the agreement, Quantinuum will provide access to its quantum computing systems and software environment, while Rolls-Royce will contribute industrial design applications and domain expertise. Riverlane will provide quantum error correction and fault-tolerant algorithm expertise, and EPCC will contribute its experience in supercomputing and hybrid workflow integration.
“The computing demands of simulating complex fluid dynamics are a major challenge in industrial design, and exploring how quantum computing can complement today’s supercomputers is an important step toward addressing them,” said Dr Rajeeb Hazra, president and CEO of Quantinuum. “This collaboration will help develop and test the hybrid quantum-classical algorithms needed for future industrial applications.”
The partners plan to evaluate computational building blocks for industrial quantum algorithms using Quantinuum’s Helios quantum computer and assess how they could scale to future quantum systems, including the company’s planned Sol and Apollo platforms.
The project builds on earlier collaborations between Rolls-Royce, Riverlane and EPCC, which focused on algorithm development, quantum error correction and data requirements for applying commercial quantum computing to fluid dynamics simulations.
Leigh Lapworth, fellow in computational science at Rolls-Royce, said the agreement represented the next stage in that work.
“We have been developing and improving algorithms for hybrid fault-tolerant applications for almost five years with Riverlane, using classical emulators in collaboration with EPCC. This agreement marks the start of an exciting new phase where we work together to explore their implementations on Quantinuum’s hardware,” Lapworth said.
“Applications development is a multi-year activity and if we want to be in a position to benefit from teraQuOp devices, we have to start now, co-developing the algorithms, hardware and software.”
Steve Brierley, CEO and founder of Riverlane, said the collaboration would expand efforts to develop fault-tolerant quantum computing for industrial use.
“Riverlane specialises in quantum error correction (QEC), as the critical technology that will ultimately unlock large fault-tolerant quantum computing, and fault-tolerant applications for various industries,” Brierley said.
“Building on our work with Rolls-Royce and EPCC, collaborating with Quantinuum will help us explore how fault-tolerant quantum computing and hybrid quantum-HPC approaches can accelerate the path to industrial quantum computing.”
EPCC said it would contribute expertise in high-performance computing, simulation and software interfaces to support hybrid computing workflows that combine classical and quantum systems.
“Quantum computing will be most valuable when users can exploit it within a wider computing environment,” said Oliver Thomson Brown, quantum group lead at EPCC. “EPCC’s mission is to accelerate the effective use of novel computing across industry and academia, and this project is a natural fit with the goals of the UK’s first National Supercomputing Centre.”
According to Quantinuum, the collaboration aligns with the UK Government’s quantum computing mission to develop accessible quantum computers capable of one trillion error-free operations, known as “teraQuOp” systems, while supporting the development of hybrid quantum-classical computing capabilities for future industrial applications.
