Developing an error corrected quantum processor solution for commercial quantum computing
A Universal Quantum-led consortium building a trapped-ion quantum computer that can correct its own errors, with Rolls-Royce as end user.
Project data last updated 11 October 2026
About this project
The consortium was announced in November 2021 and the work ran from February 2022 to March 2025. Rolls-Royce, supported by the STFC Hartree Centre, explored applications in jet engine design, starting with fluid dynamics.
Riverlane provided the error correction software. Edwards, TMD Technologies and Diamond Microwave were supply-chain partners. Sia Partners and Qureca worked on commercialisation and outreach.
Who leads it
Winfried Hensinger
Co-Founder, Chief Scientist and Chairman, Universal Quantum
Universal Quantum · University of Sussex
Lead organisation
Universal Quantum
Company · Brighton
Sussex spin-out building modular trapped-ion quantum computer chips that run at 70K; raised over $100m in an October 2026 Series A.
Partners (10)
Diamond Microwave
Company · Leeds
Edwards Vacuum
Company · Burgess Hill
Imperial College London
University · London
Qureca
Company · Glasgow
Riverlane
Company · Cambridge
Rolls-Royce
Company · London
Sia Partners UK
Company · London
Science and Technology Facilities Council
National lab · Swindon
TMD Technologies
Company · Hayes
University of Sussex
University · Brighton
Funders
Innovate UK
Funder · Swindon
UK Research and Innovation
Funder · Swindon
In the news
Quantum Zeitgeist articles naming the lead organisation or partners. They may not be about this project.
Can Riverlane’s Deltaflow unlock useful quantum computing?, read on Quantum Zeitgeist
Is Riverlane’s Deltaflow the key to useful quantum computing?
Image © Quantum Zeitgeist
Universal Quantum secures over $100M to expand quantum computing, read on Quantum Zeitgeist
Universal Quantum, a UK-based firm, just raised over $100 million in Series A funding, the largest of its kind for a British quantum company.
Image © Quantum Zeitgeist
University of Edinburgh’s Quantum Fringe festival builds on 1,000 attendees, read on Quantum Zeitgeist
Quantum Fringe Festival 2026, a two-month programme of events, explores the latest developments in quantum computing and its real-world applications. Building on last year’s event, which brought together around 1,000 attendees across 16 events, the festival running from May to July 2026, continues t
Image © Quantum Zeitgeist
Vlatko Vedral, The Oxford Physicist Who Put a Number on Entanglement, read on Quantum Zeitgeist
Vlatko Vedral is Professor of Quantum Information Science at the University of Oxford, a Serbian-born physicist who has spent three decades asking what entanglement is and what it can do. Entanglement is the link that lets two particles share one quantum state. As a PhD student in London he helped f
Image © Quantum Zeitgeist
Sources
- Gateway to Research: Developing an error corrected quantum processor solution for commercial quantum computing (gtr.ukri.org)
- University of Sussex: University of Sussex spin-out led consortium awarded millions to build commercial quantum computer (sussex.ac.uk)
- Quantum Zeitgeist: Quantum Error Correction Gets £7.5M UK Boost (quantumzeitgeist.com)
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