Business, academic and technology leaders gathered in Princeton to explore how artificial intelligence, quantum computing and advanced research can drive the state’s next wave of innovation.
New Jersey’s growing ambitions in artificial intelligence and quantum technology were on full display on October 2nd at the NJ AI Hub in Princeton, where researchers, industry leaders, educators and economic-development organizations came together for “New Jersey at the Intersection of AI and Quantum: Innovation, Resources, and Regional Opportunity.”
Hosted by the New Jersey Big Data Alliance (NJBDA), the half-day program highlighted something increasingly evident across the state: New Jersey has an unusually deep combination of universities, scientific talent, corporate R&D, computing resources and entrepreneurial activity - and an opportunity to connect those assets more effectively.
The program opened with Forough Ghahramani, Ed.D., Vice President for Research and Innovation at NJEdge and Vice President for Advanced and Emerging Technologies at NJBDA, who welcomed attendees and framed the importance of collaboration across New Jersey’s technology ecosystem.
She noted, “New Jersey has an extraordinary concentration of research institutions, industry expertise, talent and advanced technology resources, particularly in artificial intelligence and quantum science and technology. AI and quantum are evolving rapidly and increasingly intersecting with advanced computing, data, workforce development and commercialization. Our opportunity is to bring these strengths together into a more connected ecosystem, one that accelerates discovery, creates pathways from research to application, prepares the future workforce and expands opportunities for institutions and communities across the state. Convenings like this are an important part of building those connections.”
Building New Jersey’s AI and Quantum Economy
The morning’s first major session focused on the state’s opportunity in two technologies likely to reshape industries over the coming decade.
Liat Krawczyk, Executive Director of the NJ AI Hub, discussed the Hub and New Jersey’s broader AI opportunity, while Don Grust, founder of Quantum Driven New Jersey and Managing Director of QuantumToMarket, addressed the emergence of a quantum economy and the potential for New Jersey to play a significant role in its development.
The conversation underscored that building a technology ecosystem requires more than breakthrough research. It also requires infrastructure, commercialization pathways, talent, capital and stronger connections among universities, startups, established companies and government.
From Diamond-Based Quantum Research to Agentic AI
A research showcase demonstrated the breadth of work already underway at New Jersey institutions.
Kiran Kovi Kumar, Ph.D., a research scientist at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, presented work involving diamond-based quantum and microelectronics.
Zhao Zhang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Rutgers University, discussed Diamond Agent, an effort exploring agentic control of federated high-performance computing resources as a service.
Representing the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), Mengjia Xu, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the Department of Data Science at the Ying Wu College of Computing, presented research on geometric inductive biases for hierarchical learning and reasoning.
Together, the presentations illustrated how the boundaries between AI, advanced computing and quantum research are increasingly overlapping—and why interdisciplinary collaboration will become even more important.
Connecting Research With Industry
The program then shifted toward industry applications and the infrastructure needed to move emerging technologies beyond the laboratory.
Daniel Lum, Ph.D., Lead Quantum Physicist at MITRE, discussed MITRE’s role as a “quantum connector,” highlighting the importance of linking researchers, technology developers, government and potential users as the quantum ecosystem matures.
Additional industry presentations explored quantum technology research at SRI International and the transition “from quantum discovery to quantum infrastructure,” with Michael Eggleston, Ph.D., Quantum Program Lead at Nokia Bell Labs.
The agenda also put a strong emphasis on talent and workforce development.
Leaders from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and the New Jersey Council of County Colleges discussed computer science education, workforce development and the challenge of preparing students and workers for rapidly changing technology requirements.
Funding the Next Generation of Innovation
The final portion of the program turned to one of the most important questions facing researchers and entrepreneurs: how promising ideas get funded.
Sharon Broude Geva, Ph.D., of the U.S. National Science Foundation, presented virtually on NSF funding opportunities. Andrea Tsapralis, Technology-to-Market Advisor with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E), also discussed opportunities to support advanced research and commercialization.
The combination of research, infrastructure, workforce and funding discussions reflected the larger challenge—and opportunity—facing New Jersey.
The state already possesses many of the individual ingredients needed to become a major center for AI, quantum and advanced technology. The next phase will depend on how effectively those ingredients are connected.
Events such as this one help create those connections, bringing people who might otherwise remain in separate academic, corporate, government and entrepreneurial circles into the same room.
For New Jersey’s innovation ecosystem, that cross-pollination may ultimately prove just as important as the technologies themselves. Co-organizer, Don Grust, noted "New Jersey’s competitive opportunity in quantum stems from our world-class quantum research, corporate and workforce capabilities and our uniquely dense concentration of end users with high-value quantum use cases from industries such as life sciences, finance, logistics, and more. Our goal is to unify these assets to build an economically powerful and globally competitive quantum economy. Thank you to the New Jersey Big Data Alliance and Forough Ghahramani for organizing a terrific event to foster the growth of the quantum and AI ecosystems."
