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SOUTH CHICAGO — A company aiming to develop a practical-use quantum computer from a South Side research campus has pledged $250,000 to boost science and tech education in local schools.
PsiQuantum, which is set to open a facility at the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park being developed in South Chicago, announced Tuesday it would donate $250,000 toward science, technology, engineering and math — or STEM — programs on the South Side.
Recipients include George Washington and St. Francis de Sales high schools in East Side, Olive Harvey College and Chicago State University. The money is intended to prepare South Siders for jobs in quantum research and other scientific fields, company officials said.
“This investment reflects our conviction that the communities surrounding the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park should have every opportunity to participate in, and benefit from, the quantum ecosystem that is taking shape here in Chicago,” PsiQuantum co-founder Pete Shadbolt said in a statement.
The funds include grants to Project SYNCERE, an organization offering education and internships to prepare South and West side kids for engineering careers; and Phalanx Family Services, a West Pullman-based group which has hosted a STEM lab alongside the Museum of Science and Industry and trainings in artificial intelligence.
Spokespeople for the quantum campus did not share how much each school and organization is set to receive, but said most funds have been distributed in the last several days.
The money will support Chicago State’s Quantum Education, Science & Technology Center, President Zaldwaynaka “Z” Scott said in a statement.
The university offers a certificate in semiconductor technology and manufacturing, alongside a certificate and a minor in quantum science and engineering, through its quantum center. PsiQuantum donated $15,000 toward summer STEM programs at Chicago State last year.
PsiQuantum also donated $10,000 last year to buy technology for engineering, math and science classes and support a pre-engineering program at Bowen High School in South Chicago. The donation was more than four times the average annual budget for Bowen’s science department, Principal Priscilla Horton said at the time.
Washington and de Sales high schools will receive donations similar to what Bowen received, officials said.
PsiQuantum is an “anchor tenant” of the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, which was announced in 2024 after company officials chose to pursue their development of a quantum computer in Chicago over suburban Lockport.
The Palo Alto-based startup previously said it will create 150 jobs at the quantum campus, which sits at the south end of the Quantum Shore Chicago megadevelopment being built on the former U.S. Steel South Works.
Companies like IBM and Infleqtion have since joined public entities like the federal Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and numerous Illinois universities in announcing their own plans to locate at the campus.
Local governments have pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to the Quantum Shore project.
Gov. JB Pritzker — for whom establishing Illinois as a global player in the quantum industry has long been a pet project — has secured state investments of $500 million for the quantum campus and $200 million for the Chicago Quantum Exchange.
The state’s Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity granted $99 million toward designing and installing cryoplant infrastructure at the campus, while the county Board of Commissioners in October approved a $20 million grant to build a cryogenic facility for PsiQuantum’s operations.
IBM agreed to create 750 jobs in exchange for an estimated $19 million in state tax credits to build a computing hub on the planned quantum campus. The tech giant has also pledged to hire graduates of a new City Colleges program through the hub.
The city is supporting the megadevelopment with $5 million from its housing and economic development bond. The project will also receive an estimated $175 million over 30 years in county property tax breaks.
Some neighbors have pushed the developers and tenants of the South Works project to put their promises around educational support and workforce development in writing via a community benefits agreement since the plans were announced last year. Neither city officials nor developers have committed to signing such an agreement.
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