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Quantum Engineering Lab

19 members • $29/m

2 contributions to Quantum Engineering Lab
Hi everyone, I'm Brendan. I'm excited to be here.
Over the last few years I've taken more than a few turns to get to where I am. I did my undergrad in Materials Science and master's in Electrical Engineering at Cornell. Originally, I was looking to work in the glass industry at Corning. With how much the world has recently gravitated towards the power of compute, my interests shifted towards the semiconductor industry, steering me into the electrical side of things. I was in Debdeep Jena and Grace Xing's research group for my master's. I was trained in the cleanroom and electronics lab to gear up for a career in semiconductors. During this time I became aware of what I think of as a unique intersection of state of the art materials science and electrical engineering: quantum computers. For my master's project, I simulated and tested superconducting qubits in Valla Fatemi's lab. He was a postdoc under Michel Devoret, one of the inventors of this technology. Naturally, I didn't want to leave such a unique environment, so I volunteered to develop controls on some devices in Valla's lab after graduating. Really, I wanted to work in what you might call this "industry" of quantum computing that's been taking place in a select few institutions for some time now. I'm sure we are all aware that there is a very high barrier to entry for a career in quantum engineering. For the last two years I have been looking for any sort of experience that I could get my hands on to improve my candidacy, opportunities for which are few and competitive. Dilution refrigerators are expensive! While on campus one day, I was waiting for an elevator. When the doors opened, to my surprise Robert Schoelkopf was right there in front of me. I had the chance to give what you might call a 60 second elevator pitch about myself to him. Fast forward a few months and I was in front of a whiteboard taking an impromptu oral exam in quantum optics for an interview at Schoelkopf's startup, Quantum Circuits. I was really disappointed by their expectations. On paper, the job description was asking for what I had, but qualitatively, the meaning of "experience" can be very vague, something that I learned once I was onsite. To my dismay, I did not "yet" have enough of such a thing. I appreciated their faith in my future prospects, needless to say I did not receive an offer.
Hi everyone, I'm Brendan. I'm excited to be here.
0 likes • 17d
That’s how I started too. The wide neck is like a weed out freshman class. If you can handle that then electric is much smoother. Practice intervals on the fretboard and you’ll open so many doors, really. All the chords and scales follow very naturally if you go that way, in my experience teaching to a few people
0 likes • 17d
@Devesh Vedantha do you play keys? I smell a potential combo forming here
Are there any simulated engineering projects you can do to emulate real quantum engineering?
Wanted to ask if there’s any good simulated way to design a qubit control system or any quantum engineering stuff.
3 likes • 19d
Check out Boulder Opal https://docs.q-ctrl.com/boulder-opal. I used it for developing some controls on transmons. It's mostly Python, and integrates readily with industry-standard hardware. You can also simulate hardware.
1-2 of 2
Brendan Mercado
2
6points to level up
@brendan-mercado-2378
Electromagnetic Material Engineer @ Boeing

Active 4d ago
Joined Sep 7, 2025
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