Loyola University Maryland, September 10 2025 -- David Hoe, Ph.D., associate professor of engineering, and Mary L. Lowe, Ph.D., professor of physics, have received a nearly $400,000 grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation.

The $398,804, three-year grant will support the development of active learning instructional materials for two courses offered in quantum computing: Introduction to Quantum Computing and Quantum Computing II, which will focus on quantum machine learning and quantum computing applied to quantum chemistry. The courses are targeted at undergraduates majoring in physics, engineering, computer science, data science, math, and chemistry.

“When you look at most textbooks, they’re a little too technical for teaching a broad range of STEM undergraduates,” explained Lowe. “You want to engage students more in the classroom by incorporating active learning methods where students can talk and work on exercises in class.”

Course materials developed during the grant will be made available on a website and accessible to working scientists, engineers, and faculty from other institutions, which may enhance the infrastructure for U.S. education.

For the next three summers Loyola will host faculty development workshops as part of the grant. The workshops will include a travel stipend to allow Loyola to host eight external faculty to attend and learn how to implement these quantum computing modules in their home institutions. The principal investigators, Hoe and Lowe, will also travel to other conferences to give workshops and presentations.

While the grant research will primarily help address the need to train the next generation of workers in quantum information science and technology, students may also be strengthened in basic STEM subjects, including programming, artificial intelligence, molecular structure, and quantum mechanics.

“These grants don’t happen in a vacuum; we have been working towards this for a few years,” shared Hoe. “We taught the introductory quantum computing class a couple of times beginning in spring 2023 and have also published conference research papers about developing undergraduate courses in QC. Now with the grant, we are looking to take it to that next level.”

Hoe earned his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Toronto. His areas of specialization include high-performance computing and circuit design using nanotechnology.

Lowe earned her Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. Her areas of interest include fluid dynamics, biophysics, physics of medicine, and robots in the introductory labs.