Quantum technology, L'Oreal also want a piece of the pie
The French beauty brand L'Oréal is expected to enter the quantum technology sector, using its "Women in Science Fellowship Program" [1].
01Gain from quantum chemistry simulations, molecular dynamics for future products
As the quantum industry continues to expand, it is gaining more interest from companies in other fields, one of which is L'Oréal.
Although L'Oréal is a cosmetics company, it could easily benefit from using quantum technology for chemical simulations and better molecular dynamics research for future products. While L'Oréal has not yet made a public statement about its interest, it did participate in the BIG Quantum Hackathon 2021 organized by QuantX, suggesting that it is already paying attention to the industry.
02Making connections with quantum science: the "Women in Science Fellowship Program"
L'Oréal has also tried to connect with the quantum science community in the past through its Women in Science Fellowship Program, which could be key because of its level of outreach to connect itself to the quantum community at a deeper level.
L'Oréal has partnered with UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) to create the Women in Science Fellowship Program, which provides $60,000 to support the work of five female postdoctoral fellows. These fellowships are awarded annually to showcase women in various science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields as role models for the younger generation of scientists. Judges select a woman as a recipient from five core STEM fields: life sciences, physical sciences, mathematics, computer science, engineering, and sustainability.
L'Oréal and UNESCO have shown their interest in quantum by allowing quantum physics to be a subfield for potential applicants.
Studies show that women currently make up 33% of the tech industry (10% in quantum computing specifically) and experts are already calling for more measures to increase the number of women in this field. For L'Oréal, the Women in Science Fellowship Program could be a potential solution to this problem, as the quantum industry needs female postdoctoral fellows from all of the program's target STEM fields, including life sciences.
03L'Oréal and women quantum scientists
In both 2017 and 2018, L'Oréal's Women in Science Fellowship Program was awarded consecutively to women quantum scientists.
Michelle Simmons
In 2017, Professor Michelle Simmons, a pioneer in the development of quantum computers, received the 2017 L'Oréal-UNESCO Asia-Pacific Women in Science Award [2] for her research on quantum computers.
In 2012, she broke another world record when she worked with her team to create a transistor made from just one atom; the same year, they succeeded in creating the thinnest doped conducting wires in silicon. These wires are 10,000 times thinner than a human hair and are a key component of atomic-scale computers.
Professor Simmons chose the field of quantum physics because of its complexity and her desire to "push things to their limits": her greatest achievement was convincing the world that atomic-level electronics was possible, paving the way for a quantum revolution in computing.
In 2018, Loh Huanqian, Chancellor's Assistant Professor from the Centre for Physics and Quantum Technologies at the National University of Singapore, received the L'Oréal Singapore National Fellowship Programme for Women in Science Award for Physical and Engineering Sciences [3]. Quantum control of ultracold molecules.
Loh Huanqian
Advanced materials such as superconductors have revolutionized the electronics industry and renewable energy, but their microscale behavior is still poorly understood due to strongly interacting quantum particles with dynamics that cannot be calculated even with powerful computers. assistant professor Loh has reconstructed a bottom-up model of these materials using ultracold molecules with quantum properties that can be precisely controlled by lasers and laboratory applications. fields are precisely controlled.
Not only that, in the 2019 awards, Professor Karen Hallberg, a quantum physicist from Argentina, was awarded for her research on quantum matter [4], showing that Loh sees the importance of research in this field.
In the future, it is expected that L'Oréal will use this program or other forms of outreach to better access the quantum industry.
About the L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science.
The L'Oréal-UNESCO Women in Science Program has been dedicated to recognizing and accompanying female researchers at key moments in their careers. Since the program's launch, it has supported more than 2,700 young women from 115 countries and celebrated 97 winners at the pinnacle of their careers, including professors Elizabeth H. Blackburn and Ada Yonath, who went on to win the Nobel Prize. the prize is awarded annually to five women from each region (Africa and Arab countries, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America).
Reference links：
[1]https://www.insidequantumtechnology.com/news-archive/loreal-may-be-interested-in-quantum-technology-and-could-use-its-women-in-science-fellowship-program-to-enter-the-industry/
[2]https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/michelle-simmons-pioneering-ultra-fast-quantum-computers
[3]https://news.nus.edu.sg/young-quantum-scientist-named-loreal-fellow/
[4]https://www.loreal.com/en/news/commitments/for-women-in-sciences-extending-the-award-to-mathematics-and-computer-science/
