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.

The hiring manager was very enthusiastic about my background however, enough to put me in contact with his former PhD advisor Javad Shabani at NYU. Javad invited me out to his lab in the city where I expected a tour or interview of some kind. Instead, when I sat down in his office, he immediately asked if I would design superconducting qubits, starting that day, for a project that his group was involved with at MIT Lincoln Labs. Apparently the group was 2 months behind on the whole thing, and now I was the replacement for the PhD students who were originally assigned, tasked with designing 8 transmon circuits in just a few weeks before the deadline. This was an extremely challenging and rewarding *experience*. Need I mention, IBM's Qiskit Metal was quite helpful for getting me to the finish line!

During my time at NYU, I attended a conference with Javad's group where IBM's Jerry Chow presented. I met him afterwards (in an elevator, again 😂) and he left me with some very encouraging words regarding my journey: "Keep doing what you're doing, then we can talk."

Without belaboring the point, I think I can make clear that I have been working towards a career in quantum engineering for quite some time, without much success as I see, or saw, rather. As of last week, I started a new position as an Electromagnetic Material Engineer at Boeing. While I won't be making quantum computers (as far as I know,) I believe this next step that I am taking will be a very interesting and valuable experience. I will be working in the research division, Phantom Works, developing some wild things, let's say.

I'm not allowed to take pictures on campus, so unfortunately I can't show my work station. Much of my work will be secret. I can however share my humble desk in my apartment that I just moved into. I'm looking forward to what comes next, and to seeing what this community becomes. Cheers!

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