Transforming Virginia into a Hub for Quantum Computing

George Mason will own and operate one of the only open-architecture quantum computers in the United States, alongside cryogenic and quantum-optics labs.

The vendor-neutral platform lets partners install, test, and benchmark heterogeneous hardware, supporting innovation that no single organization can pursue alone.

A Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC) university commercialization grant helps catalyze and attract strategic industry investment and philanthropic support for the new $7.7M quantum technology system. 

Learn the TreQ partnership timeline

A four-tier pipeline: quantum literacy for grades 6 to 12 with Fairfax, Arlington, and Loudoun schools; an associate-level technician track with Northern Virginia Community College, including a Quantum Technician Lab and paid bootcamp on its Manassas campus; upskilling for the region’s incumbent high-tech workforce, including the quantum-safe and post-quantum cryptography skills that the federal 2035 migration mandate now requires; and new university degrees with hands-on access to the Hub’s hardware. Approximately 80 percent to 85 percent of George Mason graduates stay in the region. 

A group of regional employers, federal stakeholders, and academic institutions that governs collaborative R&D priorities, feeds industry demand directly into the curriculum, and coordinates joint pursuit of federal grants. This pillar is the sustainability engine and organizational vehicle for collaboration.

The work to establish Virginia as a hub for quantum innovation is already underway.

Catalytic Investment: The Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC) provided strategic funding to support George Mason’s quantum computing initiative, helping advance research commercialization, attract industry investment, and strengthen Virginia’s quantum technology ecosystem.

Anchor industry partners: Leidos, Aliro Quantum, TreQ, Boeing, Booz Allen, MITRE and IonQ collaborate with George Mason and are poised to provide advisory faculty, curriculum design, internships, and joint federal grant.

Education and Connection Partners: Connected DMV has collaborated with George Mason on the Pathways to Quantum Summer Immersion Program since its founding in 2022. The Booz Allen Foundation also supported these efforts, helping provide high school students and teachers with hands-on exposure to quantum science through the Quantum Immersion Program.

Regional coalition formalized: Fairfax County EDA, Loudoun County, Fairfax City EDA, and Arlington Economic Development, alongside NVCC, Marymount University, Fairfax County Public Schools, Arlington Public Schools, Alexandria City EDA, and Prince William County EDA.

Open architecture supply chain engaged: TreQ, a U.S.-founded systems firm, serves as technical advisor, with international quantum companies.

Coordinated investments already secured: a $2.4 million Mason Grand Challenge Large Catalyst award, $7.7M for an open architecture quantum computer, a pending $772K congressional appropriation toward the cryogenic testing lab, and $290K for a quantum-optics training lab.

Philanthropic Funding: $3.5M in philanthropic funding, including a $3M endowed faculty position in quantum physics, with the search beginning fall 2026.