Bluefors Lab Chicago Officially Opens: A New Avenue for Quantum Innovation

On Tuesday evening, we celebrated the grand opening of Bluefors Lab Chicago, our newest Lab-as-a-Service facility designed to accelerate quantum research and development in North America. The event brought together partners, researchers, and innovators to explore the latest addition to Chicago’s vibrant quantum ecosystem.

Bluefors Lab Chicago

Bluefors Lab Chicago is our second Lab-as-a-Service location, following the success of our Delft lab in the Netherlands. The Chicago facility offers startups, research groups, and institutions access to a fully equipped cryogenic measurement system—without the need for an upfront infrastructure investment.

With on-site support from Bluefors experts, and remote access capabilities, the lab is designed to empower quantum experimentation and accelerate progress in the field, living up to Bluefors’ goal of cooling the world’s brightest ideas into reality.

At Delft, the accessible quantum R&D lab has attracted companies from across the globe and provided opportunities for the local community to do collaborative experimentation. Utilizing experiences from Delft, the service is now available in the USA for the first time.

Opening Event

The evening began with a warm welcome from Manas Mehandru, Chief Operating Officer of mHUB. Bluefors Lab Chicago is located at the mHub Innovation Center, which provides a platform for developing critical technologies, supporting local economic activity. The leading innovation center plays an important role in Chicago’s technology network.

Following Manas’ welcome, Bluefors’ Vice President & General Manager Sauli Sinisalo and Technical Service Manager Nurul Huda delivered opening remarks, sharing the vision behind the Lab-as-a-Service model, and the strategic significance of expanding to Chicago.

David Rees, VP Engineering from Chicago-native quantum startup EeroQ, presented insights into quantum device development. Their systems offer the promise of exceptionally long coherence times, high qubit connectivity, CMOS compatibility, fast gates, and the ability to fit millions of electrons on a single chip.

During a tour of the facility, the Bluefors team showcased the lab’s cutting-edge equipment, including the LD400 dilution refrigerator system, hybrid control electronics from Quantum Machines, and advanced cryogenic measurement infrastructure tailored for quantum experimentation.

Meet the New Technical Service Manager

Bluefors Labs are managed and operated by our in-house experts, and we are delighted to introduce Dr. Nurul Huda as the Technical Service Manager for the Bluefors Lab in Chicago. Nurul brings a unique blend of academic depth, hands-on engineering expertise, and industry experience to this role.

Nurul rejoins Bluefors after contributing to Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where he worked on 2D van der Waals magnetic materials. He previously worked as a Cryo Engineer and Scientist in our Quantum Applications team, making this both a return and a new beginning.

Nurul holds a PhD in Engineering Physics from Aalto University, where his research focused on topological quantum matter and cryogenic environments. His broad skill set—from STM/STS characterization to quantum device development—makes him a key driver of the Bluefors Lab mission to support quantum innovation.

As Technical Service Manager, Nurul leads the lab’s technical operations, supporting customers with experiments, and fostering collaboration with local partners and institutions.

Open for Experimentation

We are excited that our Chicago lab is now open for new experiments. We look forward to companies coming to Chicago to carry out their innovative work at the Bluefors Lab.

If you’re looking for an accessible cryogenic measurement system setup, don’t hesitate to contact us and book the lab.