Working in Quantum. Insights and behind-the-scenes with ParityQC’s Barry Mant
Welcome back to our Working in Quantum interview series, where we put the spotlight on the people that are part of the flourishing quantum computing industry! This time we talk with our colleague Barry Mant, who works as a Quantum Use Case Developer.
Barry comes from Scotland and has a long academic experience in the field of theoretical chemistry, having worked as a Postdoc in both Innsbruck and London. He decided to make the leap to industry and settle in the beautiful Innsbruck by joining ParityQC’s Austria-based team.
What do you do here at ParityQC?
I am a Quantum Use Case Developer. This involves reformulating abstract mathematical and real world problems into a form suitable for quantum computers. When writing a program to solve a problem on a classical computer, nowadays we don’t need to worry about details such as how numbers are stored or how to decide if a criteria is satisfied. For quantum computers this is not the case and a lot of work still has to be done to transform problems to a suitable form for example, mapping variables to qubits. My role involves both pen and paper method development and a lot of (classical) programming to develop tools for this process.
Can you tell us about the career path that led you to working in quantum computing?
During my undergraduate degree in chemistry (which also included a few courses in physics and mathematics), I became (and still am!) fascinated by quantum mechanics, especially applied to atoms and molecules. This led me to do undergraduate projects in computational chemistry where I had my first real contact with computer programming for scientific applications.
I continued in this field for my PhD in theoretical chemistry where I had to program quite technical mathematical methods. I then did three postdocs, two at University College London (one in physics and one in chemistry) and one at the University of Innsbruck (in physics), all within the broad area of theoretical and computational chemistry.
In the last five or so years I noticed more and more scientific papers and popular science articles and videos about quantum computing, not to mention many friends and colleagues taking up positions in the field. When I decided to leave academia for industry, quantum computing seemed a very natural next step from everything I’d done previously and allowed me to continue learning (and applying) quantum mechanics.
What’s the most rewarding experience you had during your academic career?
Throughout my academic career I often got complimented on my ability to give clear presentations or teach and discuss quite complicated theoretical methods or ideas to students and colleagues. This was always nice to hear as in my opinion, clearly communicating scientific ideas is just as important as the work itself. There is no point in doing great work if nobody can understand it! I still try to write, present or even program in a way which is as clear as possible while still keeping the scientific ideas rigorous.
How did you experience the leap from academia to working in a company? Did it spark a change in how you approach your work?
The transition from academia to industry and working at ParityQC has been very smooth. I wanted to continue working in a position where I could utilise the skills I’d built up in academia and work on something interesting. My current position definitely fulfils this criteria.
My approach to work has actually not changed. I have always advised PhD students (and postdocs) to treat their position as “a real job”, working sensible hours but also making sure to take breaks and holidays to avoid burnout. Possibly the biggest difference is that with a more permanent contract, I’m not always looking/thinking about my next position. This allows for a longer term approach for both ongoing projects and thinking about what skills I need to develop for the future.
I think there are differences between the way chemists and physicists approach problems: the former are perhaps more likely to think in terms of mental pictures and ideas (I certainly am!) whereas the latter are more likely to start from a mathematical perspective. I think (hope?!) my colleagues appreciate a chemist’s perspective.
Your background in theoretical chemistry is quite unique in our company, how is the collaboration with colleagues who have mostly a background in physics?
From my experience there has always been a (friendly!) rivalry between chemists and physicists and there are plenty of light hearted jokes between the fields! My main scientific interests have always been at the interface of chemistry and physics and as mentioned above, my first two postdocs were actually in physics departments. I’ve even taken undergraduate tutorials for physics students. All of which is to say I’ve had plenty of experience in collaborating with physicists.
I think there are differences between the way chemists and physicists approach problems: the former are perhaps more likely to think in terms of mental pictures and ideas (I certainly am!) whereas the latter are more likely to start from a mathematical perspective. I think (hope?!) my colleagues appreciate a chemist’s perspective.
Chemistry will be one of the most important fields of application for quantum computing in the future. What kind of innovation are you most looking forward to seeing?
Theoretical and computational chemistry are now quite mature fields and the effort that has gone into providing robust, easy to use and general programs in the last 40 years or so has been remarkable. We’re now at the point where almost all papers in chemistry contain some theory and it is now seen as both a distinct discipline of chemistry and a workhorse tool for routine use.
The field is now pushing into difficult, subtle areas such as multiple excited electronic states, ultrafast (femto or atto second) processes, non-adiabatic dynamics and many dimensional nuclear dynamics. Breakthroughs in A.I. techniques and large scale classical computers are being used to tackle these problems but as you suggest, quantum computing is also likely to play an important role too. 50 years ago, chemists could just about accurately calculate the shape of molecules with four or five atoms using computers which took up a whole room, this can now be done on a smartphone in less than a second. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next 50 years!
What keeps you motivated in times in which what you’re doing seems impossibly to solve?
I think that this is a common feeling for most people who have done any kind of research work! At some point in your Masters or PhD, you just sort of get used to it. It is both the main appeal and the main frustration in research work that sometimes you just can’t see the solution (and often feel a bit silly). The moment you do solve a problem, whether from a new idea or just building it up slowly, is always satisfying however. It’s that eventual hit of satisfaction which keeps me motivated.
Right now I am working on tools and programs to make solving optimisation problems on quantum computers easier. This involves providing choices to the user and automating some of the steps so that a user can concentrate on the problem and not spend all their time on implementation. The challenge comes from how general this is. It can be difficult to imagine all the things a user might want to do and all of the different problems they might want to tackle.
What are you busy with right now, and what is particularly challenging about it?
Right now I am working on tools and programs to make solving optimisation problems on quantum computers easier. This involves providing choices to the user and automating some of the steps so that a user can concentrate on the problem and not spend all their time on implementation. The challenge comes from how general this is. It can be difficult to imagine all the things a user might want to do and all of the different problems they might want to tackle.
Could you give 3 pieces of advice for young students looking to one day work in the field of quantum computing?
My first piece of advice would be to take a broad overview. Quantum computing is an interdisciplinary field involving computer science, physics, mathematics not to mention the incredible engineering required to make quantum computers work. It is useful to know a little about each.
On a related note, I always encourage students to network with other students, friends, colleagues, etc. This doesn’t have to be a formal thing (catching up over coffee is enough) but our professional (and non-professional) networks can help us throughout or careers, sometimes in surprising ways. You never know when an opportunity or collaboration will occur.
Finally, follow your interests. I am very lucky to have only worked in full time jobs which matched my interests. This doesn’t mean every single day is exciting or that frustrations don’t occur but it is far easier to keep working on a difficult problem if it is in a field you are interested in.
What inspires you to come to the ParityQC office every day?
Right now there are many exciting and interesting things being developed which are bringing together different tools at ParityQC. Being part of this is exciting and I am looking forward to using what we are developing for application to many problems, including chemical applications. Every day things are moving forward and being part of it is definitely inspiring. Stay tuned for updates!
What do you like most about life in Innsbruck?
Before I did a postdoc here, I must admit I’d never heard of Innsbruck but it is an incredible place to live. The town is in a valley, surrounded by mountains and there are incredible views no matter where you are in the city. It is also amazing that you can set off on a hike and within half an hour, be right in the mountains. I also find the travel possibilities amazing: Italy is just to the south over the Brenner pass and Germany is just a few miles north.
Finally, I want to mention the music scene. There are lots of great local bands and many possibilities to meet musicians and perform live. I’ve met a lot of close friends here via music and have had a few chances to perform myself.
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To learn more of ParityQC’s use case developers’ work, check out the video “Solving Optimization Problems with Quantum Computers”, from our newly launched Parity Principles series!