Paper ID #35205

Modernizing Mechatronics course with Quantum Engineering

Dr. Farbod Khoshnoud, California State Polytechnic University

Farbod Khoshnoud, PhD, CEng, PGCE, HEA Fellow, is a faculty member in the college of engineeringat California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. He is also a visiting associate in the Center for Au-tonomous Systems and Technologies, and Aerospace Engineering at California Institute of Technology.His current research areas include Self-powered and Bio-inspired Dynamic Systems; Quantum MultibodyDynamics, Robotics, Controls and Autonomy, by experimental Quantum Entanglement, and QuantumCryptography; and theoretical Quantum Control techniques. He was a research affiliate at NASA’s JetPropulsion Laboratory, Caltech in 2019; an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at CaliforniaState University; a visiting Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Uni-versity of British Columbia (UBC); a Lecturer in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at BrunelUniversity London; a senior lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire; a visiting scientist and postdoc-toral researcher in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at UBC; a visiting researcher at CaliforniaInstitute of Technology; a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Civil Engineering at UBC.He received his Ph.D. from Brunel University in 2005. He is an associate editor of the Journal of Mecha-tronic Systems and Control.

Prof. Lucas Lamata, Universidad de Sevilla

Prof. Lucas Lamata is an Associate Professor (Profesor Titular de Universidad) of Theoretical Physicsat the Departamento de Fısica Atomica, Molecular y Nuclear, Facultad de Fısica, Universidad de Sevilla,Spain. His research up to now has been focused on quantum optics and quantum information, includingpioneering proposals for quantum simulations of relativistic quantum mechanics, fermionic systems, andspin models, with trapped ions and superconducting circuits. He also analyzes the possibility of combin-ing artificial intelligence and machine learning protocols with quantum devices.

Before working in Sevilla, he was a Staff Researcher (Investigador Doctor Permanente) at the Universityof the Basque Country, Bilbao, Spain (UPV/EHU), leading the Quantum Artificial Intelligence Team, aresearch group inside the QUTIS group of Prof. Enrique Solano at UPV/EHU. Before that, he was aHumboldt Fellow and a Max Planck postdoctoral fellow for 3 and a half years at the Max Planck Institutefor Quantum Optics in Garching, Germany, working in Prof. Ignacio Cirac Group. Previously, he carriedout his PhD at CSIC, Madrid, and Universidad Autonoma de Madrid (UAM), with an FPU predoctoralfellowship, supervised by Prof. Juan Leon.

He has more than 100 articles, among published and submitted, in international refereed journals, includ-ing: 1 Nature, 1 Reviews of Modern Physics, 1 Advances in Physics: X, 3 Nature Communications, 2Physical Review X, and 19 Physical Review Letters, two of them Editor’s Suggestion.

His h-index according to Google Scholar is of 36, with more than 4700 citations.

Dr. Clarice D. Aiello, University of California, Los AngelesDr. Bruno Marco Quadrelli, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology

Dr. Marco B. Quadrelli is a Principal Member of the Technical Staff and the group supervisor of theRobotics Modeling and Simulation Group at JPL, where he has worked since 1997 on multiple flightprojects and research programs. His research interests include computational multibody dynamics, teth-ered space systems and large space structures, planetary entry, descent and landing, distributed spacecraftand robotic system, granular media, and biomedical systems. He has a Laurea degree in Mechanical Engi-neering from University of Padova (Italy), a M.S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT and a Ph.D.in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Tech, and is an Associate Fellow of the AIAA, a NASA Instituteof Advanced Concepts Fellow.

Dr. Maziar Ghazinejad, University of California, San Diego

c©American Society for Engineering Education, 2021

Paper ID #35205

Maziar Ghazinejad is an assistant teaching professor in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Depart-ment at UC San Diego. He received his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from UC Riverside in 2012and holds M.S. degrees in mechanical and electrical engineering. Prior to his appointment at UCSD, heserved as an assistant professor and graduate coordinator at California State University Fresno, wherehe received the provost faculty award in 2018. His teaching repertoire includes engineering mechanics,materials science, advanced manufacturing, and engineering design. He has also developed new classeson microanalysis, design, and nanoengineering. Ghazinejad’s research on manufacturing and applicationof nanomaterials has produced several key journal publications, including featured cover articles, andreceived an Energy & Efficiency Developments (DEED) award from the American Public Power Asso-ciation. He is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), Materials ResearchSociety (MRS), American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE), and the International Society forOptics and Photonics (SPIE), where he serves as a conference chair and editor.

Prof. Clarence W de Silva, The University of British Columbia

Clarence W. de Silva received the Ph.D. degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1978),and from University of Cambridge, U.K. (1998), and a Higher Doctorate (Sc.D.) from University ofCambridge (2020). He has been a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of BritishColumbia, Vancouver, Canada, since 1988. He is a fellow of: IEEE, ASME, Canadian Academy ofEngineering, and Royal Society of Canada. His appointments include the Tier 1 Canada Research Chair inMechatronics and Industrial Automation, Professorial Fellow, Peter Wall Scholar, Mobil Endowed ChairProfessor, and NSERCBC Packers Chair in Industrial Automation. His recent books, published by Taylor& Francis/CRC Press, include Modeling of Dynamic Systems–With Engineering Applications (2018),Sensor Systems (2017), Sensors and Actuators–Engineering System Instrumentation, 2nd Edition (2016),Mechanics of Materials (2014), Mechatronics–A Foundation Course (2010), Modeling and Control ofEngineering Systems (2009), and VIBRATION–Fundamentals and Practice, 2nd Edition (2007); and byAddison Wesley, Soft Computing and Intelligent Systems Design– Theory, Tools, and Applications (withF. Karray, 2004).

Dr. Farbod Khoshnoud

Farbod Khoshnoud, PhD, CEng, PGCE, HEA Fellow, is a faculty member in the college of engineeringat California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. He is also a visiting associate in the Center for Au-tonomous Systems and Technologies, and Aerospace Engineering at California Institute of Technology.His current research areas include Self-powered and Bio-inspired Dynamic Systems; Quantum MultibodyDynamics, Robotics, Controls and Autonomy, by experimental Quantum Entanglement, and QuantumCryptography; and theoretical Quantum Control techniques. He was a research affiliate at NASA’s JetPropulsion Laboratory, Caltech in 2019; an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at CaliforniaState University; a visiting Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Uni-versity of British Columbia (UBC); a Lecturer in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at BrunelUniversity London; a senior lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire; a visiting scientist and postdoc-toral researcher in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at UBC; a visiting researcher at CaliforniaInstitute of Technology; a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Civil Engineering at UBC.He received his Ph.D. from Brunel University in 2005. He is an associate editor of the Journal of Mecha-tronic Systems and Control.

Prof. Behnam Bahr, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

Dr. Behnam Bahr received Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madisonin. His teaching and research are in the area of Biologically Inspired Robotics, Automation, and Au-tonomous Systems, Computer Aided Engineering, and Controls. He has authored and coauthored morethan seventy journals and conference papers, and has been the advisor for nine Ph.D., and more thanfifty master’s degree students. He is currently the PI of the $2.6 million grant, Mentoring, Educating,Networking, and Thematic Opportunities for Research in Engineering and Science from the Departmentof Education. He served as the Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies from 2012-2016 in

c©American Society for Engineering Education, 2021

Paper ID #35205

the College of Engineering at California State Polytechnique University-Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona). Inthat capacity he developed seminar series for faculty in the areas of Teaching, Research and Safety, andwas instrumental in developing three new Master’s emphasis in ”System Engineering”, ”Environmentaland Water Resource Engineering,” and ”Materials Engineering.” He was also the Co-PI of the Cal PolyPomona on the Department of Education for the ”First In The World” Program with the objective to flipthe courses in the undergraduate STEM. Prior to joining the Cal Poly Pomona.

c©American Society for Engineering Education, 2021

Modernizing Mechatronics Course with Quantum Engineering

Farbod Khoshnoud

Electromechanical Engineering Technology Department, College of Engineering

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, USA

Center for Autonomous Systems and Technologies, Department of Aerospace Engineering

California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA

Clarence W. de Silva

Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

Marco B. Quadrelli

Mobility and Robotic Systems Section, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology

Pasadena, CA, USA

Lucas Lamata

Atomic, Molecular and Nuclear Physics Department, University of Seville, 41080 Sevilla, Spain

Behnam Bahr

Department of Mechanical Engineering, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, CA, USA

Clarice D. Aiello

Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Sanjay Padhi

Department of Physics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

Ibrahim I. Esat

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Brunel University London, Uxbridge, UK

Maziar Ghazinejad

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, San Diego

CA, USA

Mechatronics is the synergistic application of mechanics, electronics, control engineering, and

computer science in the development of electromechanical products and systems, through

integrated design. This paper proposes to extend a typical mechatronics course beyond traditional

engineering topics, and to modernize the mechatronics instructions with complementary quantum

engineering topics. With the recent rapid advances in quantum technologies such as quantum

communications, sensing, computers, and algorithms, it is imperative that next generation of

engineers be trained in quantum technologies, and prepare them for their future careers in the ever-

changing industry in such areas. Furthermore, due to such progress and advances in the fields

associated with the applications of quantum mechanics, the integration of quantum technologies

with classical mechanical systems will be inevitable both in terms of educational and technological

standpoints in future. To address the educational needs of the future engineers in such areas of

significant importance, quantum entanglement and quantum cryptography experiments, as two

fundamental topics in quantum mechanics, are brought into the mechatronics course in an initiative

that is reported in this paper. The integrated quantum and mechatronics topics also provides

opportunities for open discussions on exploring the interface of quantum technologies and classical

engineering systems, which can potentially push the engineering boundaries beyond classical

possibilities by accessing and leveraging the quantum advantages. An innovative online remote

demonstration of such quantum experiments is also developed and presented to the students. This

course has already been offered to undergraduate students once with successful results. The

students were able to remotely access the experiments, perform the experiments and collect data.

The successful result of such quantum experiments is also reflected in a course survey, presented

in this paper, even though the quantum mechanics topics offered in this course are unfamiliar to

engineering students and hence more challenging. The paper reports, and aims to promote, the

integration of selected quantum technology topics with the mechatronics course for training

engineering students in this rapidly growing area.

1. Introduction

The rapid advances in quantum technologies demand for skilled engineering workforce to

support the progress. The integration of quantum mechanics education and related technologies in

engineering is crucial ([1]-[3]) in this second quantum revolution time [4]. There has been many

valued efforts in development of engineering educational programs, particularly in quantum

computing, quantum devices, quantum optics, quantum engineering and related areas. To further

respond to such educational importance, more interdisciplinary educational activities need to be

developed to support the ever-changing industry, as well as the research efforts in quantum related

areas, by appropriately training engineers. Although quantum education has been explored

extensively in some engineering disciplines such as in electrical and computer engineering, more

work needs to be done in other fields such as mechanical and electromechanical engineering. As

mechatronics courses and programs are interdisciplinary in nature, they seem to be a logical fit in

containing some appropriate level of quantum mechanics education. Therefore, it is proposed in

this paper to include some fundamental concepts of quantum mechanics and related technologies

in the mechatronics course.

While bringing more quantum mechanics education in engineering is imperative, such

interdisciplinary educational activities can also lead to further discoveries when exploring the

interface of quantum and classical engineering systems. In fact, the integration of quantum

technologies in classical engineering systems will be inevitable in future. Such integration

demands for mechanisms that make engineering systems compatible and adaptable with quantum

systems, while can also potentially contribute in enhancement of the classical systems. The

integration of quantum systems in classical domain can potentially lead to breakthroughs in

development of quantum-classical hybrid systems. Such systems can potentially offer superior

capabilities in comparison with classical technologies alone, and push the engineering boundaries

beyond the existing classical techniques and solutions. In particular, the applications of quantum

entanglement, cryptography, and teleportation in classical engineering domain is discussed

recently (e.g., [5]-[13]), and the opportunities at the interface of the quantum and classical domains

are being explored for autonomous systems.

2. Mechatronics and Quantum engineering

Mechatronics is the synergistic application of mechanics, electronics, control engineering, and

computer science in the development of electromechanical products and systems, through

integrated design (e.g., [14]-[16]). As mechatronics courses and programs are interdisciplinary in

nature, they can potentially be perfect fits in containing some appropriate level of quantum

mechanics education. An overview of an interdisciplinary mechatronics field is represented in

Figure 1, while indicating the integration of Quantum Mechanics related topics and Technologies.

The quantum education related material covered in a course can depend if the course is developed

as a dedicated course for quantum engineering, or as a mechatronics course that includes both

traditional mechatronics curriculum as well as some suitable level of quantum education. For a

mechatronics course that includes quantum mechanics related topics, in particular for engineering

students who have not taken any quantum mechanics courses, some fundamentals of quantum

mechanics such as entanglement is required, followed by pointing out the advantages that the

quantum aspect can provide, such as quantum cryptography and teleportation techniques, as well

as a brief introduction to quantum devices and computing.

Figure 1. Mechatronics and Quantum Technologies.

Quantum topics that could be included in a mechatronics course can be related to the following

applications [2]:

• Quantum sensor technologies which include a clock, magnetometer, gravimeter, or

accelerometer, with higher precision compared to equivalent classical sensors.

• Quantum networking and communication technologies such as quantum-key distribution

technologies, entangled state distribution, and quantum teleportation.

• Quantum computing hardware or quantum computers, as well as using classical software

to simulate a quantum computer.

• Quantum algorithms based on investigations and solving computational problems faster

than classical computer algorithms.

Such course can be developed both for undergraduate and graduate studies. “Quantum

education is not just relevant for PhD programs at elite universities, but needs to be considered

from the earliest years of science and engineering education” [1], [3].

Creating courses related to the general topic of Quantum Information Science and Engineering

(QISE), which is not the same as the traditional quantum mechanics course in physics discipline,

is crucial for non-physicists [1]. Such courses can provide students in various disciplines (such as

engineering) the knowledge and a common language of quantum technologies and prepare them

for companies who are active in quantum technology industries, and their need is increasing in

recruiting engineers, software developers, and technicians. Such courses can be offered as

introductory-level QISE courses to prepare the graduates for industry, which can also provide the

foundation for further studies.

“The value of experimental skills related to quantum technologies can be equally, or even more,

important for entering the workforce than courses designed purely based on complex quantum

theory topics” [1]. The hands-on component of the course requires facility and resources which

are not normally offered in engineering departments. One of the goals of this paper is to introduce

the “remote quantum experiments” which not only addresses the equipment and space limit

challenges but also developing some strategic plans for sharing the facility with other users and

instructors outside of the institute. It should be noted that engineering faculty members also

normally do not have the quantum mechanics background, and therefore plans that can provide the

experimental setup as well as the required skills to teach the experiments and the course can be

very beneficial. It should be added that because the photon quantum mechanics experiments are

based on optics experiments, they allow students learn not only about quantum but also gain

knowledge of optics. Therefore, such knowledge is also beneficial for students who wish to enter

optics related industries.

The area of QISE is a relatively new field which does not necessarily indicate exactly what

topics of QISE should be brought into a QISE related course [1]. However, it is imperative and

logical that the experiments offered for non-physicists can include some of the fundamental

experiments that can be considered in an applied industrial or research setup such as quantum

entanglement, quantum cryptography, and quantum teleportation experiments. The problems that

engineers can tackle in their future QISE jobs may also be related to the technologies that are

associated with quantum setups such as data analysis, engineering design, experiment development

and testing, troubleshooting, programming, and control software and hardware systems.

A survey of sampled university interdisciplinary programs in quantum education from eighteen

universities with the goals to train students towards research or a job in industry is available in

Reference [1]. Most programs offer a mix of theory and hands-on laboratory training topics, and

some programs only cover theoretical material. The hands-on laboratories include quantum optics,

quantum sensing, and quantum materials, and the theory topics cover quantum computing, where

students can run quantum algorithms on local or web accessible quantum computers. The quantum

training programs are at Master’s and PhD levels, as well as enhancement of existing

undergraduate degrees, certificates for continuing education of industry professionals, and summer

schools in on-campus experiences, online, and mix formats.

Although there is a strong evidence in the growth of the QISE research areas, there are still

some uncertainties if there is sufficient industry or research demands for graduates with QISE

related degrees. An efficient approach in training the engineering workforce may in fact be geared

towards an interdisciplinary education that incorporates quantum education as part of the

engineering programs and courses. A trivial course/program for integrating multidisciplinary

topics is mechatronics which provides a good mixture of interdisciplinary engineering skills in

preparing students for both research and industry needs. In such programs or courses,

interdisciplinarity and integration of technologies is in the core of the course/program outcomes

and hence a perfect fit.

Incorporating quantum education in mechatronics also reduces concerns that may arise in

association with the administration work of establishing an interdepartmental or inter-college

program in a university in terms of the managing the collaboration, supporting faculty, course

offerings, and infrastructure.

The case studies of the programs offered at three different Universities in QISE are briefly listed

below [1]:

University of Wisconsin-Madison (UWM) offers courses in the Physics and Computer Sciences

departments, including M.S. Degree in Physics-Quantum Computing (MSPQC) in the Physics

department, which includes two semesters course work, a summer laboratory course, and an

independent study project. The courses include existing physics courses such as quantum

mechanics (understanding qubits, quantum gates, and quantum circuits), and two quantum

computing courses (introduction and advanced) developed for this particular degree program. The

experiments related to trapped ions, neutral atoms, photons, semiconductor quantum dots,

superconducting circuits, and quantum sensors are introduced. The laboratory component of the

course demonstrates experiments with photons, atoms, ions, and superconductors.

Colorado School of Mines offers the Introduction to Quantum Computing course in the Physics

department at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and more recently a M.S. program in

Quantum Engineering. The Quantum Engineering program has been developed in collaboration

with Physics, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Applied Mathematics and Statistics, and

Metals and Metallurgical Engineering departments. The Fundamentals of Quantum Information

course introduces the basic structure of quantum mechanics (Hilbert spaces, operators, wave

functions, entanglement, superposition, time evolution), and some quantum hardware topics

(including oscillating fields, and quantum noise). The Quantum Many Body Physics introduces

entanglement, as well as topological ordered quantum matter. The Quantum Programming course

covers algorithms and the application a commercially available quantum computing system. The

laboratory experiments include the technologies related to quantum information applications,

high-frequency measurement systems, the microwave measurements, low temperature and noise

measurement techniques, quantum computing devices and sensing. For a thesis-based M.S. degree,

a two to three semester long research project with a local research group or an industrial partner

will be required along with the necessary coursework.

Technical University Munich and Ludwig-Maximilians-University offer a Master’s degree on

“Quantum Science & Technology” (QST) since 2020, jointly. The program is offered by the

physics departments, in collaboration with electrical engineering, mathematics, computer sciences,

and chemistry departments. The courses include QST Experiment (Quantum Hardware), and QST

Theory (Quantum Information) covering various fundamentals of quantum science and

technology. The experimental related topics include superconducting and semiconducting

quantum circuits, atom and ion quantum gases, quantum sensing, communication, and simulation.

The theoretical component introduces entanglement, non-locality, dense coding, quantum

teleportation, quantum cryptography, and quantum information theory. The graduates will have

the opportunity of continuing for PhD studies in quantum science and technology, as well as

joining high-tech industries.

The needs in the industry must be the basis of the development of the educational quantum

engineering programs and courses. To address the educational needs of the future engineers in

such areas of significant importance, quantum entanglement and quantum cryptography

experiments, as two fundamental topics in quantum mechanics, are brought into the mechatronics

course in an initiative that is reported in this paper. The integrated quantum and mechatronics

topics also provides opportunities for open discussions on exploring the interface of quantum

technologies and classical engineering systems, which can potentially push the engineering

boundaries beyond classical possibilities by accessing the quantum advantages. An innovative

online remote demonstration of such quantum experiments is developed and presented to the

students. This course has already been offered to undergraduate students with successful results.

The students were able to remotely access the experiments, perform the experiments and collect

data. The successful result of such quantum experiments is also reflected in a course survey,

presented in this paper, even though the quantum mechanics topics offered in this course are

unfamiliar to engineering students and hence potentially more challenging. The paper reports and

aims to promote the integration of selected quantum technology topics with the mechatronics

course for training engineering students in this rapidly growing area.

3. The mechatronics course

The mechatronics course includes the traditional topics including Mechatronics Elements, Inter-

Domain Analogies and Multi-domain Interconnection, Actuators and Drive Systems, Automatic

Control, Electromechanical Systems, Mechatronic Integrated Product Design, Sensors and

Transducers, System Modelling and Simulation. The course also offers various mechatronic case

studies aiming to train the graduates to work in industry as well as in research based organizations.

The modernized case studies are hence steered towards a combination of state-of-the-art and

applied topics including Autonomous Vehicles, Robotics, Pneumatic and Hydraulic Automation,

Solar and Fuel Cell Systems, Micro-electromechanical Systems, and Quantum Engineering. In

particular, incorporating Quantum Engineering topics in mechatronics plays the key role in

modernizing mechatronics due to its educational importance.

The proposed educational content of the course is divided to theory section and the experiment

section as follows. There is no quantum mechanics course in traditional engineering curriculum

normally. In some engineering programs such as mechanical engineering, there is also no optics

courses. Therefore, the quantum related topics of the mechatronics course can start with a brief

introduction of some of the basics of quantum mechanics and optics. For example, the following

brief introduction to quantum mechanics can be given to the students, which then can be followed

by quantum entanglement and cryptography experiments in the course. The following section is

given as an example of introductory teaching material that can help students in better

understanding the quantum entanglement and cryptography experiments.

3.1.Electromagnetic waves

The quantum mechanics topics can start with some preliminary basics to photon quantum

mechanics as an introduction. This, for instance, include an introduction to electromagnetic waves

and related phenomena such as polarization of light, the nature of light, definition of photons as

discrete packets of energy, and momentum of light, the speed of light, polarization of light,

description of electromagnetic time varying waves that consists of electric and magnetic field

components, frequency and wavelength of electromagnetic energy. An introduction to the

probability amplitude in the quantum mechanics context is given as:

The probability of an event is given by the square of the absolute value of a complex

number 𝜙: 𝛲 = |𝜙|2, where 𝜙 is the probability amplitude of that event.

The probability for an event is the sum of the probability amplitudes, if an event can occur

in several alternative ways: 𝛲 = |𝜙1 + 𝜙2|2 (for each way considered separately).

The probability of an event is the sum of the probabilities for each possible alternative,

whenever the experiment is capable of determining which path is taken: 𝛲 = |𝜙1|2 + |𝜙2|2

In quantum mechanics, the system can be in superposition of the two states simultaneously.

By measurement, one can find the state of the system. However, the state of the system cannot be

predicted before the measurement is made.

3.2.Plane waves and polarization

For waves propagating along an axis, the electric field in a vertical plane perpendicular to the

axis can be resolved into the horizontal (𝐻) and vertical (𝑉) orthogonal axes as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Electric field of light.

3.3.Polarized photons

Figure 3 depicts a polarizing filter that linearly polarizes the light and allows the vertical

component of the light (shown by the arrows) to pass, and absorbs the polarizations in other

directions (the wave is propagating along an axis perpendicular to the plane of the paper).

Figure 3. A vertical polarizer.

𝐸

𝐻

𝑉

𝜃

𝐻

𝑉

For photons initially polarized with angle 𝜃 relative to the horizontal direction, the photon is

said to be in a superposition of horizontal and vertical polarization, with amplitudes cos 𝜃, and

sin 𝜃, respectively. The probability of detecting the photons after passing through a horizontal

polarizer is cos2 𝜃, and this probability is sin2 𝜃 when the polarizer is vertical, for the incident

photons.

3.4.The quantum state vector

The polarization states of photons can be denoted by |𝐻⟩ for horizontal polarization, and |𝑉⟩, for vertical polarization. The linearly polarized photon state at angle 𝜃 to horizontal axis gives

cos 𝜃 |𝐻⟩ + sin 𝜃 |𝑉⟩

Hence, for diagonal, +45° polarization, the relationship becomes 1

√2 (|𝐻⟩ + |𝑉⟩), and for anti-

diagonal, -45° polarization 1

√2 (|𝐻⟩ − |𝑉⟩). For right circular polarization we can write

1

√2 (|𝐻⟩ + 𝑖|𝑉⟩), and for left circular polarization we have

1

√2 (|𝐻⟩ − 𝑖|𝑉⟩).

A polarizing beam splitter (PBS) is an optical element that transmits horizontally polarized light

and reflects vertically polarized light. When photon in a state 𝜓 hits a PBS, the probability that the

photon is transmitted is

𝑃𝐻 =𝐴𝐻

2

(𝐴𝐻2 + 𝐴𝑉

2 )= |⟨𝐻|𝜓⟩|2

and the probability that the photon is reflected is

𝑃𝐻 =𝐴𝑉

2

(𝐴𝐻2 + 𝐴𝑉

2 )= |⟨𝑉|𝜓⟩|2

Therefore, when N number of photons are incident on a PBS, the ratio of the transmitted to the

reflected energies can be given by 𝐴𝐻2 /𝐴𝑉

2 .

A photon detector that is able to detect a single photon, converts a photon into a readable electric

current or voltage pulse. The quantum efficiency of the detector is associated with the probability

of the detection of the photon. A parameter that is related to the efficiency of a detector is dark

count. A dark count is the error in detection in the absence of a photon.

A waveplate is another optical element that interconverts polarization states of a photon to

another polarization.

If the polarization of Alice’s photon is horizontal, and Bob’s photon is vertical, the joint state

of Alice’s and Bob’s photons can be denoted by |𝐻⟩𝐴⨂|𝑉⟩𝐵 ≡ |𝐻⟩|𝑉⟩ ≡ |𝐻𝑉⟩, or |𝑉⟩𝐴⨂|𝐻⟩𝐵 ≡|𝑉⟩|𝐻⟩ ≡ |𝑉𝐻⟩, which is the representation of the tensor product states. The joint Hilbert space

representation can then be shown, for instance, by 1

√2 (|𝐻𝑉⟩ − |𝑉𝐻⟩). This interpreted as a

combination of Alice’s photon being in one state (e.g., H or V) and Bob’s photon in another state

(e.g., V or H), which demonstrates the nonlocal superposition, or entangled state.

3.5.Quantum experiments

The quantum entanglement experiment is carried out by implementing the spontaneous

parametric down-conversion (SPDC) process (The references that are used in setting up the

experiments in this section are [17]-[22]). Correlated photon pairs that are entangled in their

polarizations are generated by SPDC. The experiment schematic is illustrated in Figure 4, and the

corresponding experimental setup is shown in Figure 5 to Figure 7.

Figure 4. The schematic of the Quantum entanglement experiment.

Figure 5. Quantum entanglement experimental setup, including laser source, and the BBO.

3°

3°

Collimator

HWP

Paired BBO

Crystal

Filter

Filter

Filter

PBS

PBS

HWP (with motorized

rotation

mount) HWP

Collimator

FPGA

SPCM

Collimator

Collimator

Filter

B’

B

A

A’

Signal

Idler

PC

Laser

Paired BBO crystal

405 nm HWP

100 mW, 404 nm Laser

A 405 nm wavelength 100 mW laser is used in a Spontaneous Parametric Down-

Conversion (SPDC) process.

A nonlinear crystal, beta-barium borate (BBO), is used in the SPDC process, which

generates correlated entangled pairs of 810 nm wavelength photons from the 405 nm

source. The pairs are called the signal and the idler. Here, a paired BBO crystal is used that

generates entangled photons with random vertical or horizontal polarizations.

The signal and the idler (from the BBO crystal) are incident on two Half-Wave Plates

(HWP) and then pass towards two corresponding polarizing beamsplitters (PBS).

The HWP can be used to rotate the polarization of the signal and idler photons.

The HWP can be rotated manually using the rotation mounts as shown in Figure 6. A

motorized rotation mount is also shown in Figure 7. This motorized rotation mount can be

controlled by a corresponding software/hardware. One of the advantage of such control of

the rotation of the HWP can be in a remote access setup.

Remote control of an actuator can be realized by any web service connection that provides

remote access to the actuator control software on the local computer. Such access can be

achieved through any system such as Amazon Web Services, zoom meetings, or similar

systems.

The PBS transmits horizontally polarized photons and reflect the vertically polarized

photons.

The photons are transmitted and reflected by the PBS to corresponding collimators.

810 nm Narrow bandpass filters are placed in front of the collimators with bandpass of 10

nm to allow only the entangled photons with the 810 nm wavelength to reach to the

collimators.

The collimators are connected to a four-channel Single Photon Counter Module (SPCM)

by optical fiber cables. The SPCM counts the number of single photons.

An FPGA based Coincidence Counter records the time of photon detecting by the SPCM.

The Coincidence Counter uses a small enough time window (e.g., less than 10 ns) to

recognize the detection of photons as a coincidence, to be considered as entangled photons.

A sample experimental result is shown in Figure 8. The instructions for software and hardware

setup for single photon and coincidence counting is available in Reference [21]. The detectors are

A, A’, B, and B’. When the two 810 nm HWP are rotated in front of the signal and idler, the

number of single photon counts and the corresponding coincidence counts, with coincide

combinations of AB, AB’, A’B, and A’B’. Figure 8 shows the result when the HWPs are rotated

and placed at the zero angle and therefore allow the horizontal polarizations to transmit. When

photons with horizontal polarization are transmitted, only detectors A and B count the single

photons. In this case detectors A’ and B’ only show the dark counts. The single counts in this

experiment are about 6000 to 7000 (per 0.5 second), and the coincidence counts are about 5 counts

(which needs to be improved, however it is shown here just as an indication that the coincidences

of AB are the largest among all other coincidences such as AB’, A’B’, and A’B). This is because

the HWPs do not rotate polarizations to 90 degrees and therefore PBS does not reflect the photons.

Figure 6. Quantum entanglement experimental setup, including HWP, PBS, Collimators, Filters,

SPCM, FPGA.

Figure 7. Quantum entanglement experimental setup, including the motorized rotation mount for

one of the HWPs.

A’

A

B

B’

SPCM

PBS PBS

810 nm HWP

810 nm filter, 10 nm bandwidth

Collimator

Fiber cable

to SPCM

Motorized Rotation Mount

810 nm HWP

Motor control

hardware/

software

interface

A’

A

B’

B

FPGA

Beam trap

Figure 8. Single photon counts by the SPCM, and the coincidences obtained by the FPGA.

Quantum cryptography and quantum teleportation experiments are then presented to the

students. These experiments are not presented in this section. A review of these experiments are

available in References [9]-[13].

In brief, A single photon is sent from Alice to Bob, Alice’s polarizer is used to control the

polarization of the photon as |−45o⟩, |0o⟩, |45o⟩, and |90o⟩. Bob’s polarizer has additional control

on the photon polarization with |0o⟩, |45o⟩ orientations. After passing through the two polarizers,

the photon reaches the beamsplitter which allows the photons with horizontal polarizations to pass,

and the photons with vertical polarizations to reflect. There is a dedicated sensor for each direction

of the photon, which either transmit or is reflected by the beamsplitter.

The quantum teleportation experiment is based on ‘teleporting an unknown quantum state via

dual classical and Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) channels’ [24]-[25]. Transfer of a qubit from

one position (Alice) to another (Bob) is proposed to be carried out by a Quantum Teleportation

technique. The Quantum Entanglement phenomenon allows Quantum Teleportation under the

assumption that strong correlation between quanta can be maintained.

Alice has been given a quantum system, i.e. a photon, prepared in an unknown state. Alice also

receives one of the entangled photons. Alice measures the state of her entangled photon and sends

the information through a classical channel to Bob. Although Alice’s original unknown state is

collapsed in the process of measurement, due to quantum non-cloning phenomenon, Bob can

construct an accurate replica of Alice’s state by applying a unitary operator.

4. Remote hands-on experiments

Offering the hands-on experiment component of any course that includes laboratory is one of

the most challenging teaching tasks in a virtual setup. In an innovative approach to teaching a

laboratory course (Mechatronics in this case) in Fall 2020, we managed to overcome the challenge

by automating the hands-on experiment via remote access to the lab in the department of

electromechanical engineering technology at Cal Poly Pomona. In this remote experiment, the

students were able to access a laptop in the laboratory at the University, while they were behind

their desks at home, and manipulate some components of the experiment remotely, and collect

experimental data, as part of their laboratory exercise in this course. Although the experiment was

remote, the students had control over the equipment in this setup. A video of this experiment is

available in Reference [23]. Although this remote access automation setup was proposed for

quantum entanglement experiments, it is our intention to use the concept as a general approach

and a model for offering remote laboratory experiment. The “remote hands-on experiments”

contributes to student interactions with tools and environments, using the proposed innovative

learning modality, makes the experiments accessible to the students (which otherwise impossible

in a remote mode) easily, and continues the faculty-student and student-student interactions as

closely as possible almost like if they are in the lab and manipulating the experiments' physical

elements. Students can work in small teams or individually and manipulate the physical

experimental components remotely.

4.1.The plans and impact on student learning

One of the most important aspects of engineering education is the hands-on experience and the

learn-by-doing educational philosophy. Currently, almost all virtual teaching experiences for the

students are either software based, or a video demonstration of the experiment. By providing this

innovative remote hands-on and learn-by-doing experience we plan to minimize the limitations of

the virtual teaching. This approach can overcome the limitations that the remote teaching in

imposing on virtual teaching mode and especially on hands-on experiments. Initially the class was

offered in Fall 2020 to 45 students who benefited from this remote experimental setup. The video

[23] shows how easy it was for the students to use the experiment and manipulate the motorized

equipment (in this particular case, a polarizer) and perform the experiment remotely. A similar

concept can be introduced for other courses by automating the experiments that can be controlled

by some actuators (e.g., electric motors) by some remote access tool (such as Amazon Web

Services, or Zoom). We are now investigating more sophisticated approaches by developing an

application from Amazon Web Services that can provide fully automated remote control

experiments that can be offered to a larger community of students, researchers, and instructors

(who do not have access to such experiments but wish to perform the experiment).

We conducted a student survey of the mechatronics course (ETM 4990) in the Fall 2020

semester. 10 questions were asked in this survey from the students anonymously about the course.

The students most strongly agreed or agreed with the benefit of the course in all 10 questions (with

only very small percentage of students who were undecided). One of the questions, Question 9, as

given below, was specifically on the remote experiments. Most students strongly agreed or agreed

with the learning outcome of what they learned in that specific remote hands-on experiment (with

only a small percentage of students who were undecided). There was no student who disagreed.

One of the contributions of this innovative approach is to provide a model for any other experiment

to be modified for remote learn-by-doing hands-on capability.

The questions and the results of the anonymous Mechatronics course survey is as follows. 40

students participated:

Topics of this mechatronics course include: multi-domain analogies, interconnected elements,

electromechanical systems, applied control systems, and mechatronics design; as well as an

introduction to various applied mechatronic system case studies such as: autonomous

systems/vehicles, industrial automation, solar-fuel cell renewable energy systems, micro-

electromechanical systems, and quantum engineering.

1. The course stimulated my interest in mechatronics field.

2. The instructor effectively explained and illustrated the mechatronics course concepts.

3. The instructional materials increased my knowledge and skills in mechatronics.

4. The tests/assessments accurately assess what I have learned in this course.

5. This class has increased my interest in mechatronics field of study.

6. This course gave me confidence to do more advanced work in mechatronics.

7. I believe that what I am being asked to learn in this course is important.

8. This course enhanced my knowledge of mechatronics.

9. The remote quantum entanglement and cryptography experiments (as well as other remote

online laboratory demonstration of various mechatronics experiments such as solar energy, fuel

cell, automation, etc.) was helpful in understanding the topics effectively.

10. I would highly recommend the mechatronics course to other students.

Figure 9. Mechatronics course survey.

The technological advances have already proven the remote hands-on practices. For instance,

the current existing technologies allow for a surgeon to perform a surgery on a patient remotely

where the surgeon and the patient are located in different countries. We can benefit from the

technological advancements, and implement them in the educational setups that can help to

minimize the limitations of virtual teaching.

Conclusions

In response to the rapid advances in quantum technologies, it is imperative to train the future

engineering workforce in quantum related areas. The associated areas to quantum engineering and

quantum technologies are cross-disciplinary and therefore require skilled graduates from various

related disciplines who can contribute to the field. Although there has been good progress in

providing quantum related education to some engineering fields such as electrical and computer

engineering disciplines, particularly on topics related to quantum optics, quantum computing, and

devices, more effort is needed towards training students in other disciplines. In particular, bringing

quantum education in electromechanical and mechanical engineering disciplines can support

0

20

40

60

80

100

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Per

cen

tage

Question number

Stronly agree Agree Undecided Disagree

future demands that are expected in both industry and research organizations. In this paper we

propose to modernize the mechatronics course with a few selected quantum mechanics topics.

Mechatronics is an interdisciplinary topic by nature and therefore can potentially be a perfect fit

for including key elements of quantum education. Some of the fundamental topics of quantum

mechanics such as quantum entanglement, cryptography, and teleportation were proposed to be

included in a mechatronics course. Remote hands-on quantum entanglement and cryptography

experimental setups were presented as suitable fundamental topics that can be integrated into the

mechatronics course, while can also allow for the continuation of learn-by-doing engineering

education philosophy in virtual education environments. Bringing quantum topics into the

engineering disciplines also allows students and instructors to discuss potential future novel

opportunities that can be discovered when exploring the interface between quantum and classical

systems. In a mechatronics course, a particular area of interest can be associated with the

application of quantum (communications) in robotic and autonomous systems areas. The

integration of the quantum technologies in the classical engineering domain (e.g., [9]-[13]) is

inevitable simply due to the very rapid advances of quantum technologies and the need for making

engineering systems adaptable and compatible with the state-of-the-art quantum systems.

Acknowledgement

We acknowledge Ganpat and Manju for their generous endowment to the Cal Poly Pomona for

the “Ganpat and Manju Center for International Collaboration and Innovation”, and the support by

CPP grant ‘Special Projects for Improving the Classroom Experience’. In addition, we are grateful

for the help of Professor Enrique Galvez from Colgate University, Professor Mark Beck from Reed

College, and Professor Alexander Lvovsky from University of Oxford for their guidance in setting

up the quantum entanglement experiment presented in this paper. Dr. Quadrelli’s contribution was

carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract

with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Lucas Lamata acknowledges the funding

from PGC2018-095113-B-I00, PID2019-104002GB-C21, and PID2019-104002GBC22

(MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE).

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