Insider Brief
- The Chattanooga Quantum Collaborative (CQC) has graduated 17 professionals from 16 Tennessee employers from its 12-week Quantum Ready Pre-Apprenticeship program.
- Participants received training in quantum computing, networking and sensing, with coursework, industry speakers, hands-on platform exposure and capstone projects.
- Supported by an NSF planning grant awarded to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga , the program aims to help Tennessee businesses assess potential quantum technology applications.
PRESS RELEASE — Chattanooga Quantum Collaborative announces seventeen professionals from sixteen Tennessee employers completed the Quantum Ready Pre-Apprenticeship, a 12-week program created by the Chattanooga Quantum Collaborative (CQC) to help companies understand emerging quantum technologies.
The program was designed for professionals already working in technology-adjacent roles, with two goals: upskilling the existing workforce and building quantum proficiency inside the organizations where they work.
“Quantum won’t replace every system overnight, but exploring where it complements classical technology can provide businesses an early, distinct competitive edge,” said Charlie Brock, CEO of CQC. “This program puts early advocates directly into the companies best positioned to benefit, equipping them to test real-world quantum applications and address complex business challenges classical computing alone can’t resolve.”
“Research opens the door to new possibilities, and industry adoption carries that work into economic impact,” said Mina Sartipi, Interim Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga . “That is why industry engagement and commercialization are core parts of the NSF grant UTC is leading, and why we’re proud to help prepare professionals who can bring quantum knowledge and capabilities into Tennessee companies.”
The participants who completed the program work in industries including healthcare, financial services, logistics, energy and advanced manufacturing. They return to their employers with a foundational understanding of quantum computing, networking and sensing, and a sense of where those technologies may offer an advantage in their sector.
“Southern Champion Tray is intentional about stewarding the continued development of our team members and about adopting technologies that benefit our employees and customers. Having Hudson (Quatro) participate in this program supports both. He returns with a foundation in quantum that will help us understand where it could have meaningful applications for our business,” said Greg Lanter, IT Director at Southern Champion Tray.
Over the 12 weeks, participants completed asynchronous coursework, heard from industry speakers from organizations including EPB, qBraid, Davidson Technologies, Experian, Terra Quantum and others, and gained hands-on exposure to quantum platforms. Each graduate also completed a capstone Quantum Opportunity Assessment, an initial look at potential use cases relevant to their own sector or employer.
Jason Barks, Lead Automation Architect at Integrity Business Automation, used his capstone to look at how quantum optimization could help non-emergency medical transportation providers assign and route the daily trips that get patients to appointments such as dialysis on time.
“The capstone was a great way to apply everything we learned over the 12 weeks to a real-world problem,” Barks said. “Routing patient trips is a hard scheduling problem, and a late ride can mean a missed dialysis appointment. Every trip or vehicle you add multiplies the number of possible schedules, so I identified where quantum optimization could come in once current methods reach their limits.”
The Quantum Ready Pre-Apprenticeship was delivered through the BuildWithin platform and supported by a National Science Foundation planning grant awarded to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga , with CQC serving as a subawardee focused on workforce and industry engagement.
The program builds on the area’s growing quantum ecosystem, which includes EPB’s quantum network and quantum computer, research and education leadership at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the Vanderbilt/EPB Institute for Quantum Innovation.
The graduates and their employers are: Ronnie Hogges II, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee; Lakota Stevens, CARTA; Diamond Lu Sloop, Covenant Logistics (NYSE: CVLG); Arthur Fowler, Dixie Group (OTC: DXYN); Veatrice Conley Lee, Environmental Solutions Group; Zac Fox, Erlanger; Jason Barks, Integrity Business Automation; Wayne Rongey, Johnson Group; Kalpesh Amin, Knoxville Utilities Board; Levi Bushman, Middle Tennessee Electric; Timothy Love, Mueller; Hudson Quatro, Southern Champion Tray; Abu Swafford, Tennessee Valley Federal Credit Union; Kristie Goodson, TVA; David Barnes and Velvet Hernandez-Johnson, Unum (NYSE: UNM); and Forrest Payne, U.S. Army Special Forces.
Employers or professionals interested in participating in future cohorts can express interest here .