What's a 'quantum job'? A Q&A with Illinois's first chief quantum officer

"Chief quantum officer" might sound like a job title from Star Trek, but Dr. Preeti Chalsani works right here in Chicagoland - not on the deck of the Enterprise.

In this brand-new role at Intersect Illinois, Dr. Chalsani recruits quantum tech companies to come to Illinois to help build an emerging industry.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the federal government have both bet big on quantum. This year, the state announced that a multimillion-dollar Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park would be built on the long-vacant U.S. Steel South Works site on Chicago's Far South Side. Anchored by Silicon Valley-based PsiQuantum and supported by the Defense Department's bleeding-edge tech research team, DARPA, the campus is Illinois' most visible effort to date to cement Chicago as the world's quantum capital.