23 June 2022
First Bavarian Distinguished Professorship awarded
Quantum engineer Robert Wille complements Munich Quantum Valley research
The first Bavarian Distinguished Professorship has been awarded to Prof. Dr.-Ing. Robert Wille, who previously taught in Linz and now holds the newly established Chair for Design Automation at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). As part of Bavaria’s Hightech Agenda, the Distinguished Professorship Program is intended to bring standout scientific experts to Bavarian universities. Each appointment made in the program is endowed with as much as five million euros for five years.
Bavaria’s Minister of Science and the Arts Markus Blume says: “We are strong in the international competition for the best minds: Minister-President Dr. Markus Söder’s billion-strong Hightech Agenda Bavaria and our Distinguished Professorship Program bring top scientists to Bavaria! We’re giving our universities the financial power they need to stay competitive at the highest level of worldwide competition. While the German federal government is cutting funding for science and research, we’re making tremendous investments. This makes it possible for brilliant minds like Prof. Robert Wille to contribute decisively to solving the highly complex questions of our time right here in Bavaria. Our highest-level scientific activities continue to increase our technological brilliance and leverage the future opportunities of tomorrow!”
Prof. Wille explains his research as follows: “In principle we solve major puzzles for contemporary technology. Almost all of today’s electronic devices consist of a large number of components which have to interact with one another in a very particular way. It’s like a puzzle with hundreds of thousands, millions or even billions of components, in other words pieces of the puzzle. Humans can no longer handle this manually. Put very generally: We develop methods that make it possible to increase the efficiency of electronic systems. They make sure that planes don’t crash and that autonomous vehicles move more safely through traffic.”
As part of the research and development work of the Munich Quantum Valley initiative, Prof. Wille and his team develop software that supports or automates the implementation of applications on quantum computers. "We see ourselves primarily as a bridge between the physical realization of quantum computers and the applications, but also between the involved disciplines of physics, electrical engineering and computer science," says Prof. Wille.