Quantinuum (NASDAQ: QNT), Rolls-Royce, Riverlane, and EPCC (the UK National Supercomputing Centre at the University of Edinburgh) have announced a multi-year collaboration to develop hybrid quantum-classical workflows. The partnership will focus on modeling complex computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for gas turbine design.
[ Joint CFD Project Matrix ]
Hardware Partner ──► Quantinuum (providing access to the 98-qubit Helios platform).
Industrial Lead ──► Rolls-Royce (providing gas turbine use cases and domain expertise).
Error Correction ──► Riverlane (providing QEC stack and fault-tolerant algorithms).
HPC Integration ──► EPCC (managing supercomputing compiler & hybrid workflows).Transitioning from Emulation to Physical Hardware
The agreement marks a shift for Rolls-Royce, Riverlane, and EPCC. For nearly five years, these three partners have co-developed and refined hybrid algorithms using classical emulators. Under this new agreement, the consortium will begin executing these algorithms on physical quantum hardware, utilizing Quantinuum’s trapped-ion Helios platform, with future scaling planned for upcoming systems like Sol and Apollo.
- Addressing CFD Bottlenecks: Simulating fluid dynamics inside gas turbines is computationally intensive, frequently creating bottlenecks in classical supercomputing design cycles.
- Hybrid Workflow Integration: Rather than replacing classical supercomputers, the project explores how fault-tolerant quantum computers can accelerate specific mathematical subroutines. EPCC will lead the effort to compile, emulate, and partition tasks between classical and quantum resources.
- UK Quantum Strategy Alignment: The multi-year project directly supports the UK Government’s mission to field “teraQuOp” systems capable of executing one trillion error-free quantum operations.
(Editor’s Note: While both initiatives address computational fluid dynamics (CFD) pipelines, this project targets distinct physical systems and represents a different developmental stage compared to Rolls-Royce’s recent software collaboration with Classiq. The Classiq partnership is already an active demonstration using a quantum linear solver to model aerodynamic flows inside jet engines. Conversely, this new, multi-year program with Quantinuum, Riverlane, and EPCC is still in the algorithmic co-development phase, specifically aiming to simulate complex fluid dynamics within gas turbines using physical hardware.)
Review the official joint announcement via the Quantinuum Pressroom here.
July 14, 2026