A new quantum technology hub aimed at ensuring the UK benefits from resilient position, navigation and timing advancements has been launched.
The University of Strathclyde is a partner in the UK Hub for Quantum Enabled Position, Navigation & Timing (QEPNT). The University has six researchers active in the Hub.
In the UK, many critical sectors and industries such as energy, finance, communications and transport depend on the reliability and accuracy of the signals from global positioning (GPS) satellites. However, GPS signals are easily disrupted by interference or deliberate malicious actions like signal jamming; a 2023 report from the UK Space Agency and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology predicted that total GPS outage would cause an estimated economic loss of £1.4 billion pounds per day to the UK economy.
The QEPNT Hub, led by the University of Glasgow, will address these challenges by creating high performance, low size and low-cost quantum technologies.
Professor Jennifer Hastie, Director of Strathclyde’s Institute of Photonics, is Deputy Principal Investigator in QEPNT. She said: “The QEPNT Hub will be developing technologies for national security and resilience. Position, navigation and timing are crucial to this and we will be working to create sovereign, UK-based solutions.
However, the Quantum Technology Hubs are not just about research. They’re also about delivering an ecosystem for industry, stakeholders and end users, and developing the next generation of leaders in in UK quantum technology.
Researchers in the Hub will develop atomic clocks, LiDAR and inertial and magnetic sensors, all of which use lasers and cold atoms to measure range, time, acceleration, rotation, and position. They will create smaller, lighter quantum-enabled devices for applications in sectors including roads, railways and underground transport, where they could help improve navigation systems by replacing current GPS positioning technologies.
New technology developed by the Hub could also enable improved indoor navigation on mobile devices, and upgrade the positioning systems in submarines, allowing them to operate for months without surfacing to reconnect with satellites.
New capabilities
Dr Kedar Pandya, Executive Director of Cross-Council Programmes at EPSRC and Chair of the National Quantum Technologies Programme, said “Current quantum technology research has unlocked new capabilities in several markets and is an area of strategic importance to the UK. Improving the resilience of our position, navigation and time-dependent services, particularly for critical infrastructure and security, is vitally important.”
Professor Paul Griffin, Professor Erling Riis, Dr James McGilligan, Dr Aidan Arnold and Dr Stuart Ingleby, all of Strathclyde’s Department of Physics, are also investigators with the Hub. Professor Griffin is the Hub’s lead on optical atomic clocks.
The QEPNT Hub is one of five quantum hubs launched by UKRI Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), with a £106 million investment from EPSRC, the UKRI Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), UKRI Medical Research Council (MRC), and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Strathclyde is also a partner in three of the other Hubs: QuSIT (UK Quantum Technology Hub in Sensing, Imaging and Timing); IQN (Integrated Quantum Networks Quantum Technology Research Hub), and QCI3, Hub for Quantum Computing via Integrated and Interconnected Implementations.