Chicago Quantum Exchange – In 2015, Marie Grubb, a supermarket cake decorator, spotted a job advertisement for a technician position at quantum technology company Infleqtion (then called ColdQuanta). The job didn’t require a PhD, a background in physics, or even experience working with quantum computers; the posting only asked that applicants have “good fine motor skills.”
After years of carefully sculpting waves, letters, and roses with frosting, Grubb knew she qualified.
“They had me placing extremely small components, bonding a lot of glass cells — just knowing how to hold my hands and steady myself really did make a difference,” said Grubb, who ultimately spent seven years as the lead technician at Infleqtion, a Colorado-based quantum hardware and software company that has offices in Illinois, Wisconsin, Australia, and the United Kingdom.
Cake decorating and quantum computers may not appear to have much in common, but Grubb thrived during her time at Infleqtion — underscoring an under-recognized fact about the fast-growing, and often well-paid, quantum technology workforce: it isn’t just for PhD physicists anymore.
“There are a lot of skills that people can get in other areas that are totally transferrable,” Grubb said. “It’s just being able to see that value and run with it.”
Image Credit: Chicago Quantum Exchange / Lloyd DeGrane
