DAE and the Coherence and Quantum Technology (CQT) are joining forces to celebrate the 100th year anniversary of Quantum Mechanics.

As most of us you may ignore that the Coherence and Quantum Technology of Eindhoven has been working on quantum research for years and that in its Qubit Building on the TU/e campus is developing under the lead of Servaas Kokkelmans one of the four quantum computers today in creation in the Netherlands. Those computers will offer a new way of computing, allowing to process different tasks at the same time, making finding for medical field and much more way quicker and more accurate.

The idea of the collaboration is to give a glimpse to the public of what most people never actually see: quantum. A quantum is simply the smallest unit of a physical property. It is so small that it is invisible. Quantum mechanics is basically the study of how these tiny things behave, and none of it works the way we expect but with well scientifically elaborated structure inside labs, behind closed doors and with strange equipment it gives unprecedented results and hopes for our futures.

To support the public to visual, feel, perceive better Quantum Technology the students of the bachelor course Do-Make, headed by Nacho Carbonell, are taking part in a six months quantum contest to design a permanent installation for the Qubit Building on the TU/e campus. The purpose of the installation is simple: to create a dialogue between the public and the research happening inside the building. This permanent installation will be presented alongside of an exhibition during Dutch Design Week 2026, year of the 100th anniversary of Quantum Physics in Eindhoven.

For designers who deal with physical materials every day, working on an invisible to the eye topic is an exciting challenge. To support them in the process they participate to lectures given by Urs Wydler, who as education quantum officer at Fontys University of Applied Sciences, intends to make Quantum knowledges accessible to different public, they also play Quantum games with EduQuation and of course received the support of theirs tutors from Do-Make studio at the DAE.

Working with quantum means starting from a place of not knowing, and this philosophy actually fits perfectly with the mentality inside Do-Make. The department is not about having the right answer before you begin. It is about learning by doing, trying things out, and letting the process teach you something you did not expect. Because of that, stepping into the unknown is not something the students avoid. It is something they are invited to dive into. Nacho put it very simply and accurately: “Jumping into the unknown to discover the world and yourself is something we stand for at Do-Make... this collaboration had allowed us to dive even dipper in the search…Its being blow minding and truly stimulating.. “

To allow the students to dive deeper, the tutors focused on creating an environment and equipping the students with tools that make them able to explore the theme together without feeling overwhelmed. “As group, we used the meditation space as a tool to visualise the concepts explained during the lectures, to open our vision to a complete new way of seeing how the world functions in quantum physics and also to investigate about ourselves as individuals and collective within this dynamic,” explains Natacha Pincemaille-Neveu, one of the tutors of Do Make. The midterms were the first time the TU/e tutors had seen what the students had been working on and they were very enthusiastic by the first prototypes. “I was truly touched how these students managed to express their vision of quantum technology in an artwork design,” comments Servaas Kokkelmans, Professor and Scientific Director of the Center for Quantum Materials and Technology Eindhoven QT/e.

This project is one of the first steps in bringing the public closer to the work of Coherence and Quantum Technology (CQT), and we are genuinely excited to see what the final result becomes.