The USRA Feynman Quantum Academy: If You Give a Student a Quantum Internship

TL;DR

This paper reviews the USRA Feynman Quantum Academy Internship Program over 8 years, emphasizing its role in developing future quantum computing talent and its successful outcomes in advancing the field.

Contribution

It provides an analysis of a graduate internship program's impact on training quantum scientists and supporting the growth of the quantum workforce.

Findings

The program has successfully trained numerous early career scientists.

Internship outputs have contributed to significant quantum research advances.

The program aligns with national efforts to expand the quantum workforce.

Abstract

In the rapidly expanding field of quantum computing, one key aspect to maintain ongoing progress is ensuring that early career scientists interested in the field get appropriate guidance and opportunity to advance their work, and in return that institutions and enterprises with a stake in quantum computing have access to a qualified pool of talent. Internship programs at the graduate level are the perfect vehicle to achieve this. In this paper, we review the trajectory of the USRA Feynman Quantum Academy Internship Program over the last 8 years, placing it in the context of the current push to prepare the quantum workforce of the future, and highlighting the caliber of the work it produced.