University of Jyväskylä,
Finland
Tommi Mikkonen is a professor of software engineering at University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Throughout his career, he has been seeking the novel aspects of software engineering from the ground up, and creating novel programming concepts. Recently, he has been involved in creating a research group on quantum information systems, which was recently established at Faculty of IT at University of Jyväskylä, Finland. The team is a part of the Finnish quantum flagship and consists of a number of professors, post-docs, PhD researchers and MSc students. In his career, Tommi has been employed by several universities as well as major software companies, such as Nokia, Sun Microsystems, and Mozilla.
Quantum computing is transitioning from theoretical promise to early-stage practical reality, bringing with it a complex ecosystem that extends far beyond qubits and algorithms. This lecture explores the foundational layers that enable quantum computation, focusing on infrastructure, middleware, and the practical challenges of deploying and operating quantum systems. We begin by briefly examining quantum hardware platforms. Building on this, the lecture introduces the role of middleware as the critical bridge between quantum hardware and user-facing applications. Finally, the lecture addresses real-world practicalities: scalability constraints, error rates, benchmarking, cloud-based access models, and integration into existing high-performance computing environments. By providing a layered understanding of the quantum computing stack, this lecture equips participants with a realistic perspective on what it takes to move from experimental devices to usable quantum technologies in research and industry.
