‘We’re building for what’s coming’: A look at quantum computing in the Valley - MassLive

SPRINGFIELD – If you’re in the Pioneer Valley and watch YouTube, post to Facebook or read this story online, all that information traveled through a basement at the Springfield Technology Park.And with an estimated $1 million to $5 million invested over the last 18 months, all that internet traffic is going faster and more efficiently. That goes for data from Amazon on your phone to the supercomputers at the Massachusetts Green High Speed Computing Center in Holyoke.“The capacity needs to be bigger,” said Martin Hannigan, CEO of Lightboard, the company that is doing the upgrades to the fiberoptic equipment and computer connections built over decades in the basement of a 90-year-old industrial building at One Federal Street. “The capacity has been adequate,” he said. “But for what’s coming, we’re getting ahead of it.”He said the exact amount invested is a trade secret.Old copper technology at the R. J. Greeley & Company headquarters in Springfield Technical Park . (Dave Roback photo)The RepublicanNot so secret is the business opportunity and the state’s desire to see the upgrades to its investment utilized to attract investment and jobs.In November, the state designated the Quantum Technologies, led by the Western Massachusetts Economic Development Council, as a TechHub for the region. The state designation came alongside $1 million awarded to the hub through a state economic development bill which will be used to do a feasibility study on creating a quantum computing supply chain accelerator, according to Springfield Technical Community College. The college is involved in the planning for the hub and tailoring training to meet the workforce needs. “The accelerator will help develop the next generation of quantum computing components, house a quantum-focused startup studio and prepare local talent for jobs in the quantum industry,” Gov. Maura Healey’s office said in a statement.That would involve physical spaces, like the Technology Park and the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center Holyoke.“Beyond quantum, everything these days is about the transfer of data, quickly and efficiently,” said Brendan Greeley, president of R.J. Greeley Company, the leasing agent for the Tech Park.Controlled by lasers, quantum computing operates by “puffing up” atoms to thousands of times their normal size and completing calculations at speeds far exceeding conventional computer processors.In December, the state and the Holyoke computing center announced plans with collaborators including Cambridge Computer and Dell Technologies to create the artificial intelligence computer resources environment. It will be the backbone of the Massachusetts AI Hub by supporting startups, businesses, researchers and educators with access to sustainable, high-performance computer resources required for AI innovation, according to the Holyoke computing center.In May, the Healey-Driscoll administration announced a $31 million grant to the center. The upgrades will make it a large-scale resource for researchers, said John Goodhue, the center’s executive director.“The true measure is how much work do you get out of it?” he said. “How many scientific results do you get? That’s the most important measurement.”Thursday, April 17- Executive Director John Goodhue oversees the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center (MGHPCC) in Holyoke which will be a state hub for artificial intelligence and quantum computing. (Douglas Hook / The Republican)Douglas hookThe computing center’s six university members — Boston University, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northeastern University, University of Massachusetts and Yale University — will match the state’s $31 million investment. By 2030, the total funding is expected to exceed $120 million, according to a news release.Goodhue said the technical upgrades in Holyoke are extensive, making this one of the largest systems to be deployed through a state-level AI initiative in the country. The equipment is being prepared at a plant in Franklin, Massachusetts, Goodhue said. Eighteen wheelers will later arrive in Holyoke with pallets of equipment and then begins weeks of assembly work.“We plug them in, turn them on and make the software work,” Goodhue said. The capacity will make research and data analysis quicker and easier, he said.“It’s large enough to do significant work. And for our community it will be more accessible than commercial resources,” he said.Brendan Greeley, president of R. J. Greeley & Company at Springfield Techinical Park, uses a piece of testing equipment used to examine and maintain fibrotic equipment.(Dave Roback Photo)The RepublicanAnd the computing center’s data connections, including those for internet service providers like Westfield Gas & Electric or Crown Castle, all go through the Tech Park at One Federal Street.Hannigan said the park is well suited as a data hub for reasons that go back to when the Army built up the Springfield Armory in the 1930s with World War II looming.Buildings, he said, were designed to take heavy floor loads and equipped with lots of electrical capacity.After the armory closed in the 1960s, the phone company took advantage of the cheap, available and well-suited space. Hannigan said it all goes back to the Reagan-era breakup of the telephone monopoly and modernization of telecommunications.“The government negotiated a settlement with the telecom companies to open their networks for voice traffic,” Hannigan said. “And part of that settlement was that the AT&Ts of the world didn’t want everyone in their buildings to exchange the traffic.”That meant setting up third locations like the Tech Park. Soon fiber optic cable ran down the MassPike.“What better place to bring all your fiber optics than the place that already has all the power and infrastructure,” Hannigan said. Brendan Greeley, president of R. J. Greeley & Company, left and Martin Hannigan, CEO of Lightboard, seen during a tour at the R. J. Greeley Company at Springfield Technical Park. (Dave Roback Photo)The RepublicanNow, the park is an internet exchange, Hannigan said. The exchange is a way to facilitate that local connection and share it. “Instead of going to Boston to pick up your content, you come to the internet exchange and pick it up,” he said. “Instead of going 200 miles round trip, you go a meter back and forth and then out to where the users are.”