materials science

"We're not talking about short, week-long durations, we're talking about decades of utilisation," says Dr Santo Padula, who has a PhD in materials science, and works for Nasa as an engineer at the John Glenn Research Centre in Cleveland, Ohio.

"Error correction is a vital step necessary in the long-term development of quantum computing. It is the crucial step that turns quantum computing into a practical and commercial tool we can use to solve complex problems in chemistry, materials science, medicine, logistics and energy."

This means quantum systems offer the possibility of solving key problems that are beyond classical computers, is areas such as medical research and materials science, or cracking particularly complex mathematical problems.

Tom Cheesewright thinks two of the most exciting prospects for the next 30 years will be materials science and bioengineering.

"It remains a challenge for AI to handle tasks that require fast decision making based on limited learning information," explained Boyuan Chen, professor of mechanical engineering and materials science, electrical and computer engineering, and computer science at Duke, where he also directs the Duke General Robotics Lab.