I’m back
It’s been forever since I’ve updated my personal blog. Looking at my last git commit, I know it was since 22 December 2021 to be exact, so that’s 1 year, 3 months, and 16 days ago. A lot has happened ever since.
What happened?
Graduate school
In late 2020, I was enrolled in a Masters programme in Quantum Computing in TUDelft, which is a two years programme. It was with a full-ride scholarship, and it was no easy feat obtaining such a prestigious opportunity. Needless to say, I was absolutely elated when I received the good news.
I can’t believe it, I’m going to one of the best universities in the world to study quantum computing!
Without hesitating, I accepted the offer and went on my merry way. The Master programme was no walk in the park that’s for sure. I struggled immensely especially during the first year, where Master students are supposed to attend lessons. Unfortunately, it was during peak Covid season, and I had to attend all my classes remotely, despite me having relocated to the Netherlands. Furthermore, the syllabus being taught were extremely difficult and to be honest, there were many times when I doubted myself “I am going fail this course”. It was a tough time.
Despite this, I was able to power through the first year, with pretty good grades actually, much to my surprise. In the second year, Master students are supposed to do a Master thesis project with a chosen supervisor. I chose to work on theoretical model which combines the concept of Quantum Error Correction and Quantum Key Distribution together with Johannes Borregaard of QuTech (really nice person to work with!). One year later, I finished my thesis with flying colours and it can be found here. That’s not to say it was without struggles though. There were both emotionally and technical road blocks in my journey and I had to invent novel methods to achieve what I want, which I couldn’t have done if not for the unwavering support from my loved ones.
Awesome internship
Upon finishing my Master thesis, I was required to complete an internship to officially be able to graduate from my Masters programme. Knowing that I wanted to work in the quantum computing industry, I applied to a number of companies both near and far. Unfortunately, it was still Covid season, hence it became extra hard to get into the overseas companies due to travel restrictions. I have looked for a long time, and unfortunately I got no replies. “I must get an internship offer soon or else my graduation would be postponed” - I thought.
Since I’m done with the Master programme except for the internship, I no longer have incentive to continue to stay in the Netherlands, and thus I bought tickets back home to Malaysia. I recall vividly that I was still stressed about not getting an internship offer whilst boarding the 10+ hours flight from the Schiphol airport. However, mid-way through my flight, I decided to use the on-board WiFi to browse Reddit for a bit. Out of boredom, I decided to check my spam inbox, and when I saw it, my eyes opened wide and my jaw dropped. “Holy whacka moly! I’ve had an offer all these time?!” - I thought to myself whilst looking at the offer email dated almost a month ago since it was sent to me.
I scrambled on my phone to quickly schedule for an interview and I apologised profusely for the late reply. They replied shortly after that we can have an interview indeed and the rest is history. Needless to say, I’ve learned my lesson since. Fast-forward few months later, I’m doing an awesome internship with SpeQtral with talented and smart folks on developing state-of-the-art satellite quantum key distribution software in C++.
What’s next?
At the time of writing, it’s been several months since I finished my internship and officially obtained my Master degree in quantum computing. Every now and then, I’d have a moment to reflect on how far I’ve come, and how I can view the hardships I had to go through as an opportunity to edify myself and ameliorate myself.
My next chapter in life begins in May of 2023 where I would begin my PhD in quantum computing with focus on the experimental side with the National University of Singapore, and I’m super excited about it.
Keep looking forward :)