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: This hardware-focused collaboration builds on Rolls-Royce’s ongoing software exploration in this domain, complementing their recent work with Classiq to integrate quantum linear solvers into iterative CFD environments.)
Review the official joint announcement via the Quantinuum Pressroom here.
July 14, 2026
