Learning

I love chatting about science with whoever I find myself with and learning together through those interactions. A few times I’ve found myself talking about Quantum Computing and specifically discussing why quantum computers are required for quantum calculations. That is, restating the question, why can’t we just simulate quantum calculations on the powerful computers we have today?

The quick answer is that the amount of data (numbers) required to do those quantum calculations grows way too large very quickly as the size of the calculation grows. So yes, we can simulate very simple quantum calculations that require only a few quantum bits, or qubits, but as the number of qubits grows, that data required for the calculation grows too large for our computers to handle - at least with the current math that we use for quantum calculations.

For the past year I’ve been working with the people at GoSource around 3 days per week while also working towards my commercial pilot license (more on that journey separately). GoSource are involved in quite a number of interesting projects, but for the past 5 months I’ve been involved with the United Nations Transparency Protocol, which aims to make product claims easy to verify - claims such as whether the product was produced on land that is deforestation-free, or whether a battery in your EV was sourced with components that meet certain sustainability goals.

In mid 2022 I was presented with an amazing opportunity through no effort of my own: VMware, the company I worked for, announced it was being acquired by a non-remote, non-open-source-oriented multi-national in a somewhat lengthy 18 month process. As a fully-remote staff engineer on an open-source project I estimated a 75 to 90 percent probability that I’d receive a redundancy in around 18 months time.

A redundancy, really? An amazing opportunity? This post is a personal reflection and reminder to my future self to step back and evaluate the potential opportunities that a situation provides. I’m currently using this opportunity to weave three passions of mine into a possible future of software engineering with Rust on quantum computing projects and piloting aeroplanes on the side. Sure, reality may force me to compromise in one way or another in time, but for now I’m leaving my options open.