Building useful quantum computers ‘in our direct line of sight’ Researchers say creation of startups suggests game-changing tech may be developing at faster pace than expected Mihir Bhaskar was a self-described “total nerd” in high school. He volunteered at a computer history museum and became obsessed with the hardware and how it all came to be: from abacuses to punch cards, vacuum tubes to personal computers. “I was really fascinated with the history of computing, the development of the semiconductor and transistors and things like that,” said Bhaskar, who received his Ph.D. in physics from Harvard in 2021. Over the past decade, Bhaskar and other grad students, postdocs, and professors have made strides in developing quantum computing, work that one day may land their devices in a museum display. The pace of their progress has already fostered three startups, a sign the game-changing technology may be developing ahead of expectations, researchers say. “I have never seen a science that is so ‘blue sky’ go out into the commercial sphere so quickly,” said Evelyn Hu, Tarr-Coyne Professor of Applied Physics and of Electrical Engineering. “Where are we now compared to where we thought we’d be in 2018? We are so much farther ahead than I think any of us could have imagined.” One of the three startups, LightsynQ, was co-founded in 2024 by Bhaskar to commercialize his doctoral research in quantum networking. The company was acquired last year by publicly traded IonQ, where Bhaskar is now senior vice president for research and development. Another, QuEra, was founded in 2018 by Mikhail Lukin, co-director of the Harvard Quantum Initiative in Science and Engineering, and Markus Greiner, George Vasmer Leverett Professor of Physics, with partners from Harvard and MIT. QuEra recently shipped its second commercial quantum computer — based on technology from their