Dr. Ronny Stolz appointed as honorary professor for quantum engineering

Dr. Stolz has worked at the former Institute for Physical High Technologies in Jena as a research associate since 1994 and as head of various research groups since 2007. Since 2019, he has headed the Quantum Systems research department at what is now the Leibniz Institute for Photonic Technology.

Quantum technologies and quantum systems are currently on everyone's lips. Whether planning energy supply, developing medicines or secure online banking - researchers worldwide agree that quantum systems, with their property of transporting information in completely new ways, hold the potential to revolutionize our world as the invention of the computer or the Internet once did, and to make countless applications more efficient, secure and cost-effective. Quantum optical techniques could revolutionize disease diagnosis, quantum sensors could provide entirely new insights into brain function, and quantum computers could make weather and climate predictions more accurate. But this idea is not new. As early as the 1970s, quantum phenomena were exploited with so-called superconducting sensors and detectors, which process information and signals with quantum objects, in order to extend the limits of measurement technology into areas that were completely new at the time. In the 1980s, scientists at the then TH Ilmenau also carried out research work for numerous national and European laboratories to develop superconducting quantum interferometers, i.e. extremely sensitive sensors for magnetic flux that can be used to measure the smallest signals. At the same time, the first thoughts emerged internationally on how the special properties of quantum objects could be manipulated and used for information processing.

"Expert in quantum systems who takes collaborative research to a new level"

Then as now, the TU Ilmenau has cooperated intensively with partners both internationally and throughout Thuringia to advance research in the field of quantum technologies. For example, togehter with the FSU Jena, the TU Ilmenau coordinates, among other things, the "Quantum Hub Thuringia" consisting of eleven research institutions. Prof. Hannes Töpfer, Dean of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology at TU Ilmenau:

With the appointment of Dr. Ronny Stolz as honorary professor for quantum engineering, we are pleased to gain a proven and experienced expert in quantum systems, who complements our knowledge and experience in the field of quantum technologies in an optimal way and brings our joint research work to a new level.

New specialization in Quantum Engineering in the master's program Electrical Engineering and Information Technology

Dr. Stolz has had practical experience in the use of quantum systems and has lectured on the fundamentals and application aspects of superconducting quantum sensing on an international level for many years. He has also been actively involved in teaching at the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena as an adjunct professor for more than ten years. His focus is on electromagnetic methods in geophysics. In the future, Dr. Stolz will also bring this teaching experience and his expert knowledge of quantum-based magnetic sensors and sensor systems and their practical application to the teaching of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology engineers at the TU Ilmenau. Prof. Töpfer:

In this way, we will be able to ensure an even higher quality and particularly practice-oriented education in the Quantum Engineering specialization in the future and optimally prepare students of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology for professional use in the future field of application of quantum technologies. Those who succeed in mastering these technologies are likely to have better production processes, more efficient logistics and energy distribution, more secure communication and transaction processes, and better sensors for use in medical diagnostics, non-destructive materials testing, or mineral exploration in the future.