Zapata Computing and KAUST Partner to Bring Quantum Computing to the Middle East for the Advancement of Computational Fluid Dynamics
The simulation process is inefficient, and a lot of time is wasted trying to model air flow around wings and engines more efficiently.
BOSTON, March 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zapata Computing, Inc., the leading enterprise software company for NISQ-based quantum applications, today announced a new partnership with Middle East-based King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) to be a licensed user of Zapata’s Orquestra®, the modular, workflow-based platform for applied quantum computing. KAUST is examining various lines of research to determine how quantum technologies could represent an advantage over classical compute tools in a variety of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) use cases for airplane and automobile aerodynamic design.
Currently, CFD computations are extremely time-consuming and expensive to run. The simulation process is inefficient, and a lot of time is wasted trying to model air flow around wings and engines more efficiently. Boosting work around those designs could allow manufacturers to build more energy-efficient airplanes and lead to lowered carbon emissions for air travel – therefore, having an enormous positive impact on the environment. Airplane transportation is overall responsible for 2% of greenhouse gas emissions. For airlines and plane manufacturers this could drive meaningful financial and environmental results – all supported by new quantum technology.
Home to the KAUST Research and Technology Park (KRTP) where R&D centers, corporates and start-ups choose to locate themselves, the university has a track record of collaborating with industry partners at national and international levels to transfer research-based technology into the market to achieve public benefit.
“We are delighted to be the catalyst for bringing quantum capabilities to CFD research in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and to the Middle East,” said Kevin Cullen, vice president of Innovation and Economic Development at KAUST. “This partnership establishes Zapata as one of the first quantum computing companies active in the region and will enable KAUST researchers to explore the future of aerospace fluid dynamics. KAUST is a leader in the areas of data analysis and AI and we welcome the addition of Zapata’s Orquestra technology to our capabilities, in order to accelerate discovery and innovation in these fields.”
Zapata’s Orquestra platform improves data analytics performance, empowering companies and research organizations to build quantum-enabled workflows®, execute them across the full range of quantum and classical devices, and then collect and analyze resulting data. With Orquestra, organizations can leverage quantum capabilities to generate augmented data sets, speed up data analysis, and construct better data models for a range of applications. Importantly, it provides organizations with the most flexible, applied toolset in quantum computing so that its users can build quantum capabilities without getting locked in with a single vendor or architecture in the next several years.
“We are always looking to expand quantum computing use cases through Orquestra and our work with KAUST will give us a head start to explore new opportunities for more efficient CFD,” said Christopher Savoie, co-founder and CEO, Zapata. “The collaboration with KAUST will benefit the aerospace industry as a whole by using quantum to bring efficiency to what has historically been a slow and difficult process.”
About Zapata Computing
Zapata Computing, Inc. builds quantum-ready applications™ for enterprise deployment through our flagship product Orquestra® – the only workflow-based toolset for enterprise quantum computing. Zapata has pioneered a new quantum-classical development and deployment paradigm that focuses on a range of use cases, including ML, optimization and simulation. Orquestra integrates best-in-class classical and quantum technologies including Zapata's leading-edge algorithms, open-source libraries in Python and Julia, and more. Zapata partners closely with hardware providers across the quantum ecosystem such as Amazon, Google, Honeywell, IBM, IonQ, Microsoft and Rigetti. Investors include BASF Venture Capital, Honeywell Ventures, Itochu Corporation and Merck Global Health. Enterprise customers include Merck, BP, BBVA, KAUST and Coca Cola Bottlers Japan Inc., among others.
For more information visit www.ZapataComputing.com and www.Orquestra.io.
About KAUST
Established in 2009, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) is a graduate research university devoted to finding solutions for some of the world’s most pressing scientific and technological challenges in the areas of food, water, energy and the environment. With 19 research areas related to these themes and state of the art labs, KAUST has created a collaborative and interdisciplinary problem-solving environment, which has resulted in over 11,000 published papers to date.
With over 100 different nationalities living, working and studying on campus, KAUST has brought together the best minds and ideas from around the world with the goal of advancing science and technology through distinctive and collaborative research. KAUST is a catalyst for innovation, economic development and social prosperity in Saudi Arabia and the world. For additional information, visit: www.Kaust.edu.sa
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