# Who Are the First Tenants in Chicago's IQMP FaQtory?

The Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park (IQMP) FaQtory has secured its first two physical supply-chain tenants: Edmonton-based [dilution refrigerator](https://quantumintel.tech/glossary/dilution-refrigerator) manufacturer Zero Point Cryogenics (ZPC) and South Holland, Illinois-based precision engineering firm Ability Engineering Technology (AET). Announced by Illinois Governor JB Pritzker at the second annual Global Quantum Forum in Chicago, the dual signings are backed by $500 million in state funding for the IQMP and $200 million for the Chicago Quantum Exchange (CQE), plus federal support from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) Tech Hubs initiative.

This is the first concrete evidence that the Bloch Quantum Tech Hub's funding infrastructure is translating into physical supply-chain capacity — not just anchor hardware developers. By placing a cryostat manufacturer and a precision vacuum engineering firm literally adjacent to hardware companies including [IBM Quantum](https://quantumintel.tech/companies/ibm), [PsiQuantum](https://quantumintel.tech/companies/psiquantum), [Infleqtion](https://quantumintel.tech/companies/infleqtion), [Pasqal](https://quantumintel.tech/companies/pasqal), and [Quantum Machines](https://quantumintel.tech/companies/quantum-machines), the IQMP FaQtory is making an explicit bet that proximity shortens hardware iteration cycles and reduces dependence on overseas component sourcing.

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## Zero Point Cryogenics: A Canadian Cryostat Maker Opens Its First U.S. Foothold

Zero Point Cryogenics was spun out of low-temperature physics research at the University of Alberta in 2017. The company designs and manufactures custom cryogen-free (dry) dilution refrigerators — the ultra-low-temperature systems that are non-negotiable infrastructure for superconducting qubit and spin-qubit architectures. Every superconducting processor, whether a transmon array or a spin-qubit device, must operate within millikelvin of absolute zero, and dry dilution refrigerators are the workhorses that get them there without the operational complexity of wet helium systems.

ZPC's IQMP presence will function as a U.S. Innovation Service Hub, supported by Illinois' Manufacturing Illinois Chips for Real Opportunity (MICRO) Act. The source material does not detail qubit counts, specific fridge specifications, or investment dollar amounts for this expansion — so those figures should not be assumed. What is notable is that ZPC is a relatively young company (founded 2017) from Edmonton establishing its first American operational presence inside a federally and state-backed quantum campus. That positioning — rather than a standalone commercial facility — signals ZPC is orienting itself toward the emerging U.S. institutional and defense-adjacent quantum procurement market.

The strategic logic is defensible. The global market for dilution refrigerators is dominated by a small number of players. Co-locating manufacturing and service capacity next to hardware developers at a scale campus like IQMP creates a plausible route to preferred-supplier status for the anchor tenants already committed to the park.

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## Ability Engineering Technology: 80 Years of Precision Manufacturing Meets Quantum Infrastructure

AET brings a very different profile. Headquartered in South Holland, Illinois since 1947, the company specializes in engineered-to-order process equipment for cryogenic, vacuum, and high-pressure industrial applications. This is not a quantum-native startup — it is an established precision manufacturer expanding into quantum-adjacent infrastructure through a two-location investment supported by Illinois' Economic Development for a Growing Economy (EDGE) program.

The EDGE-backed expansion creates a research and development satellite office within the IQMP FaQtory. AET's core competencies — vacuum chambers, cryogenic vessels, high-pressure systems — map directly onto the physical plant requirements of quantum hardware development. Quantum processors need precisely engineered vacuum enclosures and cryogenic housings; AET has been building analogous hardware for industrial customers for decades.

The combination of ZPC's specialized dilution fridge expertise and AET's broader precision fabrication capabilities gives the IQMP FaQtory a meaningful range of in-house supply-chain depth from day one.

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## What This Means for the Midwest Quantum Manufacturing Thesis

The IQMP was always designed as more than a tenant aggregator. The underlying hypothesis is that quantum hardware development is currently bottlenecked not just by qubit [coherence time](https://quantumintel.tech/glossary/coherence-time) or [gate fidelity](https://quantumintel.tech/glossary/gate-fidelity), but by slow, expensive, and geographically fragmented hardware supply chains. A custom cryostat modification that might require weeks of back-and-forth with a European supplier could, in theory, be iterated in days if the manufacturer is on the same campus.

That thesis is worth scrutinizing. Co-location has genuine value for early-stage hardware iteration, but the quantum hardware market remains small enough that any single campus supplier will serve a thin order book. ZPC and AET are both making bets on the IQMP anchor tenants scaling their hardware operations substantially — a reasonable assumption given the commitments on the table, but not a guaranteed one.

The $500 million in state IQMP funding and $200 million for the CQE are the numbers that make this viable in the medium term. State incentive programs (MICRO Act for ZPC, EDGE for AET) are absorbing a meaningful portion of the expansion risk. Without that subsidy stack, it is less obvious that either company would anchor in Chicago rather than closer to existing quantum hardware clusters on the coasts.

For the broader industry, the IQMP FaQtory model is worth watching as a potential template. If the Bloch Hub demonstrates that supply-chain co-location materially accelerates hardware development timelines, it creates a replicable argument for similar infrastructure investments in other federally designated quantum tech hub regions.

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## Key Takeaways

- The IQMP FaQtory has signed its first two tenants: **Zero Point Cryogenics** (dilution refrigerators) and **Ability Engineering Technology** (precision vacuum and cryogenic fabrication).
- Announced at the second annual Global Quantum Forum in Chicago by Governor JB Pritzker.
- Backed by **$500 million** in state IQMP funding and **$200 million** for the Chicago Quantum Exchange, plus federal EDA Tech Hubs support.
- ZPC, spun out of the University of Alberta in 2017, establishes its **first U.S. operational presence** under the MICRO Act.
- AET, founded in 1947 and headquartered in South Holland, IL, is expanding with an R&D satellite office under the EDGE program.
- Anchor hardware tenants include IBM Quantum, PsiQuantum, Infleqtion, Pasqal, Diraq, and Quantum Machines.
- The core supply-chain co-location thesis: proximity reduces hardware iteration cycles and cuts reliance on overseas component sourcing.
- State subsidy programs are absorbing significant expansion risk — viability depends partly on anchor tenants scaling hardware operations as planned.

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## Frequently Asked Questions

**What is the IQMP FaQtory?**
The IQMP FaQtory is a specialized facility within the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park (IQMP) in Chicago, designed to house quantum hardware component suppliers, fabricators, and developers alongside anchor quantum computing firms. It operates under the Bloch Quantum Tech Hub umbrella and is supported by state and federal funding.

**What does Zero Point Cryogenics make and why does it matter for quantum computing?**
Zero Point Cryogenics builds custom cryogen-free dilution refrigerators — the ultra-low-temperature systems required to operate superconducting and spin-qubit hardware near absolute zero. Without reliable cryogenic infrastructure, superconducting quantum processors cannot function. ZPC is establishing its first U.S. location at the IQMP FaQtory.

**How much state funding is behind the IQMP?**
Illinois has committed $500 million in state funding for the IQMP and $200 million for the Chicago Quantum Exchange, according to the announcement made at the Global Quantum Forum. Additional federal support comes from the U.S. EDA Tech Hubs initiative.

**Which quantum computing companies are anchor tenants at IQMP?**
The source identifies IBM Quantum, PsiQuantum, Infleqtion, Pasqal, Diraq, and Quantum Machines as anchor hardware developers at the IQMP campus.

**Why co-locate suppliers with quantum hardware developers?**
The IQMP thesis is that placing cryogenic and precision manufacturing companies physically adjacent to quantum hardware developers shortens iteration cycles — a custom vacuum component or fridge modification can be turned around faster on-campus than through geographically dispersed supply chains, and reduces dependence on overseas sourcing for critical quantum infrastructure components.