How quantum technologies may impact your life
Talk given at TEDxChicago 2025
Chicago, September 26th, 2025
Dr. David Awschalom
Quantum Scientist & Engineer
About the Talk
Physicist David Awschalom takes us on a fast-paced journey from Star Trek to quantum teleportation, showing how what once seemed like science fiction is quickly becoming reality. Equal parts inspiring and mind-bending, he reveals how uncertainty—the quirky heart of quantum physics—is actually a powerful engine of discovery, fueling breakthroughs in computing, medicine, and secure communication. This talk makes clear that our quantum future is not just coming—it’s already here.
Source: TEDxChicago
About David
Dr. David Awschalom is an experimental physicist and pioneer in quantum technology. He is the University of Chicago’s Liew Family Professor of Molecular Engineering and Physics, a senior scientist at Argonne National Laboratory, and the founding director of the Chicago Quantum Exchange- an intellectual hub that advances quantum information science research, prepares the quantum workforce, and drives the quantum economy in collaboration with leading universities, national laboratories and more than 50 corporate, international, and nonprofit partners.
Dr. Awschalom is the inaugural director of Q-NEXT, a U.S. Department of Energy Quantum Information Science Research Center. He is a member of the U.S. National Academies of Science and Engineering and has received a U.S. Secretary of Energy Achievement award. His research focuses on spintronics and quantum engineering and has earned him the APS Oliver Buckley Prize and Julius Edgar Lilienfeld Prize, the EPS Europhysics Prize, the MRS David Turnbull Award and Outstanding Investigator Prize, the AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Prize, the International Magnetism Prize from the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics, and an IBM Outstanding Innovation Award.
Source: TEDxChicago
TEDxChicago 2025
Our future feels uncertain, yet we are resoundingly called to what matters most: You and me. Us. Humanity, itself. At TEDxChicago 2025, we believe the most powerful force shaping tomorrow is our collective agency, imagination, desire for connection and laughter, dignity, and generosity. This year, our speakers and artists arrive on Chicago’s stage to share their ideas, showcasing their fierce commitment to unify science, technology, and sustainability with the essential principles of compassion, justice, and care.
This is our love letter to Chicago.
Source: TEDxChicago
Coach’s Reflections
More to come!
Dustin Huibregtse
Founding Principal
Talks & Speaker Coach
