California teen wins $25K fellowship for superior quantum error method

Alexander Miller, an 18-year-old from Irvine, California, received a $25,000 Davidson Fellowship for 2026. His quantum error mitigation technique, named RIDA, outperformed two leading rival methods in 100,000 test cases. The Stanford-bound student developed the approach to reduce errors in quantum computations. Miller believes his work can accelerate quantum computing's use in fields like drug discovery and materials science.