From Theory to “Tapeout”: Berkeley Students Design and Test Quantum Chips in First-of-its-Kind Course - University of California, Berkeley

January 30, 2026Dione RossiterIn a groundbreaking new course supported by the CIQC, students aren’t just learning the equations behind quantum mechanics, they are designing and measuring their own superconducting qubit chips. Walk into the laboratory of CIQC Investigator Alp Sipahigil in early December, and you won’t see students sitting in lecture halls. Instead, you will find teams of graduate and undergraduate researchers huddled around cryostats, instruments capable of cooling electronics to temperatures colder than deep space. Inside those chambers are quantum chips that the students designed themselves just weeks prior. This is the culmination of EE290-Superconducting Quantum Circuits(link is external), a new quantum course that aims to bridge the critical gap between theory and engineering of quantum computing hardware. Bringing “Tapeout” Culture to Quantum In classical electrical engineering, a “tapeout” class—where students design a circuit, have it professionally manufactured, and then test the results—is a rite of passage. However, in the nascent field of quantum computing, education has largely remained bifurcated: students either learn abstract theory in the classroom or gain hands-on hardware experience only after joining a specialized PhD lab. “Quantum computing is at a point where we are trying to convert theoretical ideas into something practical,” says Professor Alp Sipahigil, who developed the course. “In order for that to happen, coursework cannot just be about theory. There needs to be an element of: how do we actually simulate and design quantum circuits? How do we effectively train quantum engineers?” With seed funding from the CIQC, Sipahigil set out to create the first course of its kind to offer this full-stack experience. Read more at CIQC >>https://ciqc.berkeley.