Quantum computing comes with a new layer of concepts. Quantum bits are called qubits, but there's more. Physical qubits are often grouped to form logical qubits. In our recent conversation with Jarrod McClean, we discussed logical qubits. And we're sharing that discussion as a Science in Parallel short.

In our seventh season, we're putting a spotlight on quantum computing, technology that could help speed up high-performance computing and artificial intelligence, shore up cybersecurity, study complex natural systems and much more.

Jarrod McClean works on quantum algorithms and applications at the Google Quantum Artificial Intelligence laboratory, and this conversation links some of the ideas about AI for science from our last season to emerging quantum technology.

Join us for a conversation about Jarrod's work at Google, where he thinks quantum computing could soon enter the computational science workflow and the mental gymnastics of harnessing hardware that researchers are still designing.

Computational science requires translation, breaking ideas and principles into pieces that algorithms can parse. The work requires experts capable of zooming in on core computer science while also being able to step back and make sure that the big scientific questions are addressed.

This guest, Sunita Chandrasekaran of the University of Delaware, moves seamlessly across these layers— from working with students and postdocs on fundamental software, collaborating with researchers on questions ranging from physics to art conservation and helping to shape AI policy in her state. In our conversation, we discuss the rapid pace of artificial intelligence, the synergy among academia, the national labs and industry, and keeping humans at the center of AI innovation.

You'll meet:

• Sunita Chandrasekaran directs the First State AI Institute at the University of Delaware and is an associate professor of computer and information sciences. She is also the vice-chair of Delaware's state AI commission. She has worked as a computational scientist at Brookhaven National Laboratory and served on the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Scientific Computing Advisory Committee. During a sabbatical, she completed two visiting researcher stints in industry, first at Hewlett Packard Enterprise and then at NVIDIA.
• Sunita was named the 2025 Emerging Woman Leader in Technical Computing by the Association of Computing Machinery's Special Interest Group on High Performance Computing.