This workshop will focus on determining the best way to introduce undergraduate quantum engineering education into universities nationwide, including public four-year universities, public and private flagship universities, and four-year and community colleges.

A host of specific technologies in quantum information technologies require engineering advances, which depend on a workforce educated in the unique requirements of quantum technology alongside key classical engineering techniques.

An important question is the best way to generate quantum engineering minors and/or majors in the diverse university ecosystem in the United States. Will this best be done through existing engineering programs, as is common for example with subdisciplines such as bio-engineering, nanoengineering, etc.? Or, do we really need a whole new major and perhaps new departments to support quantum engineering education?

Another significant issue is the relative lack of availability of quantum education outside the flagship universities. The large and robust public four-year university system nationwide, such as the California State University System, the largest collection of universities in the United States, can greatly benefit from quantum engineering minors and/or majors, and make quantum information accessible to the much larger and typically highly diverse population of students found in such schools.

Issues include creating affordable and accessible hands-on quantum training environments, as companies throughout quantum industry emphasize they prefer; creating widely accessible introductory quantum courses which all STEM students can take; and providing combined BS/MS programs for students who would like to go a little further than an undergraduate education can offer, but do not need a full PhD in quantum information.

The workshop will identify realistic deliverables:

1. recommendations for creating a quantum engineering minor; and
2. recommendations for creating a quantum engineering major and/or specialized track within engineering majors

Points of emphasis in the workshop will include academia-industry and inter-agency collaborations, and convergence between different engineering disciplines together with the physical sciences, computer science and software engineering. Key questions addressed during the workshop will include:

1. What is quantum engineering and what kind of quantum engineers does the nation need?
2. What are the best ways to educate quantum engineers in different university environments?
3. How can we build affordable hands-on quantum education at the undergraduate level?
4. Does quantum engineering require its own department, or is it better implemented as a specialized track in existing engineering disciplines?
5. What courses should be included in a quantum engineering major or minor?
6. How do we increase diversity in our quantum engineering students?
7. What kind of support, NSF or otherwise, is required to get quantum engineering off the ground?

Representatives of industry, national labs and the full US university ecosystem from flagship schools to four- and two-year colleges.

1. A public website will be developed and made accessible to both STEM and non-STEM audiences, with all workshop materials and talks made publicly available.
2. A jointly produced report or paper summarizing recommendations as a roadmap for quantum engineering education, and outlining the workshop’s position regarding community priorities relative to quantum engineering education.

The recommendations provided by this workshop on best ways to create a quantum engineering discipline at the undergraduate level will help guide educational development and investment in universities in the United States and government agencies such as NSF.  Students reading recommendations will have a quick and clear understanding of the scope of quantum engineering and the educational innovation needed to support its development. At the present time, the quantum workforce education to support the development of digital quantum computers is mostly not in place.  This workshop will help expand the understanding of quantum engineering education and quantum information science more generally to students and professionals from many engineering subfields, to STEM professionals and to the wider public.