Join us for the February 2025 Dundee Data Meetup

Join us for our February Dundee Data Meetup featuring an exciting exploration into the world of quantum computing with our expert speaker.

Topic: Hello, Quantum World

Speaker: Jules May, Software Consultant

Jules is a freelance consultant specialising in safety-critical systems, mathematical software, and compilers and languages. With 25 years of experience in writing, teaching, and speaking, Jules regularly conducts lectures and workshops. He is the author of "Extreme Reliability: Programming like your life depends on it" and the originator of Problem Space Analysis.

Have you ever wondered what a real quantum computer looks like in action?

Join us as Jules demystifies quantum computing and demonstrates a working quantum system. While quantum computers are often portrayed as future technology that will revolutionise cryptography and computing, Jules will show that they're already here and being used to solve real problems.

Talk Description:

How would you like to see an actual, quantum computer, actually working?

Everyone's heard about quantum computers - how they'll be able to solve every computational problem in the blink of an eye, decrypting every coded message, and spilling our secrets across the internet. That’s if they ever get delivered: for all the talk, nobody seems able to construct a working quantum computer. So is the whole idea nothing more than fairy dust?

Actually, quantum computers do exist, and we can use them to run real algorithms. Within a few years, quantum computers are going to be a useful part of the programmer’s armoury, routinely solving problems in optimisation, recognition, machine learning, and simulation that no other technology can handle. This session explains what a quantum computer is, why it is so different from a conventional computer, and how we design quantum algorithms. Finally, it will show a simple, “Hello, Quantum World” program running on real quantum hardware.