Mohammed Mohaisen, president of the Mena region and Turkey at Honeywell, at a press conference announcing plans for the US Pavilion at Dubai Expo 2020. Antoine Robertson / The National
Mohammed Mohaisen, president of the Mena region and Turkey at Honeywell, at a press conference announcing plans for the US Pavilion at Dubai Expo 2020. Antoine Robertson / The National
Mohammed Mohaisen, president of the Mena region and Turkey at Honeywell, at a press conference announcing plans for the US Pavilion at Dubai Expo 2020. Antoine Robertson / The National
Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone, the Ferris wheel and the zipper were all introduced to the public eye by the US at world fairs past, setting the stage for decades of innovation.
Quantum computing will be added to that list at Dubai Expo 2020.
Technology company Honeywell announced on Tuesday that it will present the capabilities of the rapidly evolving field at the US Pavilion.
It is therefore with great pride that we are bringing our latest innovation milestone – quantum computing – to Expo 2020
Norm Gilsdorf, Honeywell
“Society still faces many complex challenges, from medical discoveries needed to keep us safe to the long-term sustainability of our planet. It is therefore with great pride that we are bringing our latest innovation milestone – quantum computing – to Expo 2020, a radical leap forward in technology that can unlock solutions to those challenges,” said Norm Gilsdorf, vice president of global high growth regions at Honeywell.
Honeywell, which began developing quantum computing for commercial projects in 2018, expects the cutting-edge technology to become a $1 trillion industry over the next three decades.
In June 2021, Honeywell announced it would invest $250 million to $300m to acquire and spin-off UK-based Cambridge Quantum Computing to form the world’s largest stand-alone quantum computing company.
Dubai Expo 2020 will be the first time Honeywell has presented its capabilities in quantum computing to the Middle East.
A quantum computer is a kind of supercomputer, defined as a machine that can compute at a much faster rate than a typical modern version.
Honeywell is part of a growing field of corporations, nations and universities that are racing for quantum computing supremacy. In March, Abu Dhabi announced it would start building its own quantum computer to focus on breakthroughs in medicine and battery technology.
Honeywell began developing quantum computing capabilities in 2018 and is now working with paying clients.
Logistics company DHL has worked with Honeywell to develop more efficient cargo packing, Samsung and Imperial College London are using Honeywell's quantum computing to create longer-lasting and more durable batteries, and BMW is looking to make improvements to its supply chain.
“You won't see a quantum computer doing Excel for you,” said Tony Uttley, president of the Honeywell quantum business. “That's not what quantum computing does.”
What it does, he said, is take on difficult problems that have a high number of probable variables and outcomes.
Components from Honeywell Quantum Solutions.
“Imagine that you are trying to solve the world's food problem. The world wastes 35 per cent of all food created on the planet, despite the fact that there are people who go hungry,” he said.
“That seems like a simple problem. But the variables are immense. It does not need to be refrigerated. How long does it take before it spoils?
"Those become very complex problems. And as powerful as our computers are today, they are problems that are what we call intractable. They are not solvable by today's classical computers. And that is where quantum really comes into play.”
Dubai Expo is expected to attract more footfall than the 2016 Olympics and 2018 World Cup combined, the US Pavilion organisers said.
The US Pavilion is being developed under the theme "Life, Liberty and Pursuit of the Future".
Honeywell and PepsiCo are the two major sponsors.
The pavilion is to include a replica of the Statue of Liberty’s torch, plus artefacts from telephone inventor Alexander Graham Bell and Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. The Mars Opportunity Rover and a piece of the Moon will also be on display.
In the courtyard, visitors will be able to roam under a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. A nightly “blast off” is planned each night, where a projection will transform the rocket into a large canvas, showing the history of US space exploration.
Google's quantum computer - in pictures
Sundar Pichai with one of Google's quantum computers in the Santa Barbara lab. A quantum computer can reduce a calculation that would ordinarily take years to minutes.
Quantum computers are able to process multiple possibilities at once, solving problems at a much faster rate.
A component of Google's Quantum Computer in the Santa Barbara lab. Today’s computers function using something called bits, which are arranged in a combination of ones and zeroes. Quantum computers use quantum bits, or "qubits", which mean they are capable of solving calculations a traditional computer could never answer. Reuters
Quantum computers are as fragile as they are complex. They require an ultra-cold temperature to operate, keeping the environment stable with less chance of the qubits flipping between states.
Sundar Pichai and Daniel Sank with one of Google's quantum computers in Santa Barbara. In late 2019, Google announced it had achieved "quantum supremacy", when its quantum computer became the first to solve a calculation in less than four minutes that would have taken the world’s most powerful supercomputer 10,000 years to complete.
Quantum computing could help solve everything from the mundane, such as finding the most efficient route, to huge breakthroughs in science, including creating new cancer treatments – or possibly even finding a cure for cancer..
Quantum computers will also be able to sort through reams of data on complicated subjects like climate change to predict how progress might be achieved..
A food calorie, or kilocalorie, is a measure of nutritional energy generated from what is consumed.
One calorie, is the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water by 1°C.
A kilocalorie represents a 1,000 true calories of energy.
Energy density figures are often quoted as calories per serving, with one gram of fat in food containing nine calories, and a gram of protein or carbohydrate providing about four.
Alcohol contains about seven calories a gram.
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Rating: 5/5
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Earth under attack: Cosmic impacts throughout history
- 4.5 billion years ago: Mars-sized object smashes into the newly-formed Earth, creating debris that coalesces to form the Moon
- 66 million years ago: 10km-wide asteroid crashes into the Gulf of Mexico, wiping out over 70 per cent of living species – including the dinosaurs.
- 50,000 years ago: 50m-wide iron meteor crashes in Arizona with the violence of 10 megatonne hydrogen bomb, creating the famous 1.2km-wide Barringer Crater
- 1490: Meteor storm over Shansi Province, north-east China when large stones “fell like rain”, reportedly leading to thousands of deaths.
- 1908: 100-metre meteor from the Taurid Complex explodes near the Tunguska river in Siberia with the force of 1,000 Hiroshima-type bombs, devastating 2,000 square kilometres of forest.
- 1998: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 breaks apart and crashes into Jupiter in series of impacts that would have annihilated life on Earth.
-2013: 10,000-tonne meteor burns up over the southern Urals region of Russia, releasing a pressure blast and flash that left over 1600 people injured.
France has organised a delegation of leading businesses to travel to Syria. The group was led by French shipping giant CMA CGM, which struck a 30-year contract in May with the Syrian government to develop and run Latakia port. Also present were water and waste management company Suez, defence multinational Thales, and Ellipse Group, which is currently looking into rehabilitating Syrian hospitals.
Find the right policy for you
Don’t wait until the week you fly to sign up for insurance – get it when you book your trip. Insurance covers you for cancellation and anything else that can go wrong before you leave.
Some insurers, such as World Nomads, allow you to book once you are travelling – but, as Mr Mohammed found out, pre-existing medical conditions are not covered.
Check your credit card before booking insurance to see if you have any travel insurance as a benefit – most UAE banks, such as Emirates NBD, First Abu Dhabi Bank and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, have cards that throw in insurance as part of their package. But read the fine print – they may only cover emergencies while you’re travelling, not cancellation before a trip.
Pre-existing medical conditions such as a heart condition, diabetes, epilepsy and even asthma may not be included as standard. Again, check the terms, exclusions and limitations of any insurance carefully.
If you want trip cancellation or curtailment, baggage loss or delay covered, you may need a higher-grade plan, says Ambareen Musa of Souqalmal.com. Decide how much coverage you need for emergency medical expenses or personal liability. Premium insurance packages give up to $1 million (Dh3.7m) in each category, Ms Musa adds.
Don’t wait for days to call your insurer if you need to make a claim. You may be required to notify them within 72 hours. Gather together all receipts, emails and reports to prove that you paid for something, that you didn’t use it and that you did not get reimbursed.
Finally, consider optional extras you may need, says Sarah Pickford of Travel Counsellors, such as a winter sports holiday. Also ensure all individuals can travel independently on that cover, she adds. And remember: “Cheap isn’t necessarily best.”
