Standing in a semicircle around a white board, students and faculty members kicked off a quantum computing lesson at dae’s learning studio in New Haven by answering questions spanning from how their peers can help them with learning for the day to what superpower they would like to have.
Each lesson at dae starts and ends this way, Kay Detome, the director of the learning studio, told the students.
“We are big on community. … We still have individualized paths, but we also work together. … It’s also big in the tech industry,” he told the students at a recent quantum computing lesson.
dae, a nonprofit multilocation learning studio, provides high school students and adults with no-cost programs to explore “the most in-demand uses of technology,” according to a news release. Currently, dae is located in New Haven and Stamford.
For high school students, dae offers a variety of program lengths, including one that lasts 10 months, to learn about different areas of technology such as game development, web development and computer science.
The latest program that dae added to its list for high schoolers is called daeZERO, which is all about quantum computing, which A.M. Bhatt, dae’s founder and chief executive officer, said is “timely.”
“It’s brand new territory with a lot of runway to it for a career standpoint, a development standpoint … so it perfectly fits with our mission,” he said.
Quantum computing is a form of technology that uses particles and quantum physics laws to process information.
The daeZERO program is currently offered at the nonprofit’s New Haven location. It is now in the middle of its second cohort of about 10 quantum computing students. At minimum, it is offered for four weeks at a time, but students can opt into participating for eight weeks, Bhatt said.
He added that daeZERO teaches students about “core quantum concepts,” such as building basic quantum circuits and writing basic quantum code.
“It’s really just to have a really hands-on experience of what is quantum computing and where is this world opening up to in the next decade?” Bhatt said.
At the end of the program, the students, in groups, present how they would use quantum to fix a real-life problem, Detome said.
“It could be quantum and cybersecurity, quantum and (artificial intelligence) or quantum and medicine and you’re picking a problem out there,” he said. “They are coming up with a solution for how to use quantum concepts to actually solve those problems. They actually write in code with their solution.”
Yale University and QuantumCT fund the daeZERO four week program, with dae picking up some of the cost for students who come for eight weeks, Bhatt said.
When it comes to quantum computing, Florian Carle, managing director of the Yale Quantum Institute, said it “offers transformative opportunities for our economy and workforce, and educational programs help ensure that our community benefits from emerging technologies.”
Saranda Belica, senior adviser of QuantumCT, said they are supporting dae because “it represents a practical, early entry point into a field that is often perceived as inaccessible.”
“Expanding access at this stage matters,” Belica added. “It allows students to develop familiarity with the language, tools and implications of quantum technologies. This kind of exposure strengthens the broader talent pipeline and ensures that more communities are positioned to participate in, and benefit from, what comes next.”
For some students, participating in dae’s programs has influenced what they choose to do after high school. This is the case for High School in the Community student Justin Welch, who will be attending the University of New Haven to study computer and electrical engineering,
“I’ve been here for so long, I know more about tech and stuff like that,” he said. “Now, I definitely could probably have a career in tech so it’s slowly introduced me and influenced me to start going into those things.”
Plus, students said that participating in dae programs has given them a chance to form new relationships.
“It’s a very close-knit community so if you have something going on at home or something going on at school, you feel comfortable enough to talk about it with a staff member or be like, ‘Hey, today wasn’t really a good day for me, I’m not feeling well,'” said Katherine Flores, a student at High School in the Community. “So the space in general is very safe.”
Because the quantum computing program is in demand, Bhatt said dae will offer it in Stamford this summer.
In the fall, the plan is to open a paid program for students outside of areas that dae now services, which are students who are in New Haven County, Norwalk and Stamford. However, dae is also looking to expand to Bridgeport by opening a campus there later this year or early next year.
