The Potential and Challenges of Quantum Computing for Engineering Applications

Quantum computing has generated splashy headlines with pronouncements of "quantum supremacy", but the reality is much more complicated than simple headlines can capture. Quantum computers are designed to use the interactions between quantum objects, such as electron spins, to perform useful computations. This paper will provide an overview of some of the engineering challenges involved in developing quantum computers and highlight some potential applications of interest to the mechanical engineering community. These challenges include the need to isolate the quantum bits - the logic elements used in quantum computers - from the environment to protect them from external sources of noise. In some quantum computer designs, this requires cooling the quantum bits to temperatures below 1 degree Kelvin, which requires specialized refrigeration systems. Potential future applications of quantum computers, particularly for mechanical engineers, rely on the promise of increased computational power for solving complex problems that have many degrees of freedom. This includes solving large systems of equations for finite element analysis and computational fluid dynamics, and in computational chemistry for materials optimization. Quantum computing is clearly a future technology more development is needed before it will be used for engineering applications. That said, there are clear potential applications in mechanical engineering, and it will be a future technology that will be used for engineering analysis-based design optimization, digital twin development, and other relevant applications.