Computer science

Interview with Jay Gambetta, Vice President for Quantum Computing at IBM. Gambetta recalls his childhood in Queensland, Australia, and his early inclinations toward science and math. He discusses his doctoral work at Griffith University under Howard Wiseman, where his thesis dealt with the possibility of distinguishing different interpretations of quantum mechanics. Gambetta describes his introduction to quantum computing and his move to Yale. He reflects on his time at the Institute for Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo in Canada, as well as the formation of the quantum team at IBM, which he joined in 2011. Gambetta provides an overview of the history of IBM’s interest in quantum computing, the continuing growth of their efforts, and the impact of the leadership of IBM Quantum under Dario Gil, Senior Vice President and Director of Research at IBM. Other topics include Gambetta and the IBM team's work to put a quantum computer on the cloud, the development of Qiskit, IBM’s quantum software platform, and his thoughts on benchmarking quantum computing capabilities. The interview concludes with Gambetta’s thoughts on the impact of the National Quantum Initiative and the changing needs of education in quantum computing.

In this interview with Krysta Svore, Technical Fellow in Microsoft’s Advanced Quantum Development Team, she reflects on the development of her work on quantum algorithms and leadership role in Microsoft’s quantum computing efforts. She discusses her undergraduate education in mathematics at Princeton University, doctoral education in computer science at Columbia University, postdoctoral work at MIT, and an internship at IBM. She recalls working with figures such as Isaac Chuang, John Preskill, David DiVincenzo, and Barbara Terhal, and gaining an understanding of the practicalities of constructing quantum computers. Svore explains the origins of Microsoft’s efforts in quantum computing with Michael Freedman and Staton Q, and she discusses her own efforts to develop software in tandem with the company’s efforts to develop quantum computing hardware. She reviews the effort to integrate quantum computing into Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform, the roles of the Q# programming language and the company’s partnerships, and how Microsoft benchmarks quantum technology. The interview concludes with her reflections on the status of women in the field of quantum computing.

Interview with Russell Alan Hulse, American physicist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics. This is a four-part interview, and Hulse is joined by his wife, Jeanne Kuhlman, throughout. Kristen Frederick-Frost and Roger Sherman (Curators, Division of Medicine and Science, National Museum of American History) were also present for this interview. Part 1 covers Hulse’s childhood in the Bronx, his family life, and his early interest in science. Hulse discusses skipping a few grades in elementary school and being accepted at the Bronx High School of Science. He describes his time as a physics major at Cooper Union and his graduate studies at University of Massachusetts, where he studied radio astronomy with Joe Taylor. Hulse talks about his early experience with computers, programming, and his growing technical expertise. In Part 2, Hulse and Kuhlman discuss their relationship over the years and their common interest in science. Hulse goes into detail about his time at the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab, working on scientific computer modeling.  He also talks about his consulting work after earning the Nobel Prize. Part 3 of the interview covers Hulse’s time at UMass, building the radio astronomy program. He also discusses his work leading to the discovery of the binary pulsar. Part 4 focuses on Hulse’s outreach efforts, such as working with local public libraries and schools to promote science education, as well as his work at the University of Texas.

Interview with Mehmet Alpaslan, NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow. The interview begins with Alpaslan recounting his childhood in Turkey and several other countries, as his parents worked for the Turkish Foreign Ministry. He recalls reading Carl Sagan’s Cosmos as a teen, which sparked his intereste in astronomy. Alpaslan discusses his decision to attend the University of St. Andrews where he studied physics and astronomy. He describes his undergraduate research in modified Newtonian dynamics, as well as his introduction to extragalactic astronomy by Simon Driver, who eventually became his PhD advisor. Alpaslan discusses his PhD work with the Galaxy and Mass Assembly Survey (GAMA), including his time at the Anglo-Australian Telescope and his work writing code for data analysis. He then explains the connections which led him to the NASA Postdoctoral Program where he is a fellow at NASA Ames Research Center. Alpaslan describes the joys of observation and working with telescopes, as well as the benefits and challenges of writing your own code from scratch. At the end of the interview, he shares that although careers in academia can be difficult, the ability to work on exciting science makes it worthwhile. 

Interview with Stephen Williams, formerly Assistant Research Director of SLAC. Williams describes his connections with SLAC since his retirement in 2011, and he recounts his childhood in Michigan and his early fascination with electronics. He explains his reasons for attending the University of Michigan, where he majored in physics and where he determined he would go to UC Berkeley for graduate school to work with Victor Perez-Mendez on magneto-strictive readouts for wire spark chambers. Williams discusses his postdoctoral work at SLAC working with David Leith, and his subsequent research on head coils and software in nuclear medicine at UCSF. He describes the research mission of Group B at SLAC and the Cherenkov technique, and the opportunities that led him his management position as director of engineering and as an engineering manager for Diasonics. Williams describes the change in leadership from Burt Richter to Jonathan Dorfan, and the circumstances of becoming as Acting Research Director. He discusses the safety protocols that needed to be improved in consultation with the DOE, and at the end of the interview, Williams reflects on the ways SLAC has stayed true to Panofsky’s original vision.

Interview with Diane Kewley-Port, Professor Emeritus at Indiana University in the Speech and Hearing Department. Kewley-Port recounts her involvement in the Acoustical Society of America over the years, including serving as Chair of the Speech Technical Committee, member of the Executive Council, and Vice President. She describes her childhood in Cleveland and her early interest in science and engineering. Kewley-Port then discusses her undergrad and graduate years at University of Michigan, as well as the year she spent working in Denmark for a Danish computer company. She also talks about her time as a research assistant in the Neurocommunications Lab at Johns Hopkins, as well as at Haskins Laboratories, before pursuing her PhD at City University of New York. Kewley-Port reflects on how important ASA has been throughout her career, especially the mentorship and support she has received. 

Interview with Peter W. Shor, Morss Professor of Applied Math at MIT. Shor recounts his childhood in Brooklyn and then Washington, DC, and he describes his discovery early in childhood that he had a special aptitude in math. He describes his undergraduate experience at Caltech, where he pursued an interest in combinatronics, and he explains his decision to attend MIT for graduate school, where he studied under Tom Leighton. Shor discusses his graduate work at Bell Labs and he explains how applied math research was relevant to Bell's business model. He describes his thesis research which used math to design good algorithms for computer problem solving, and he discusses his postdoctoral research at the Mathematical Science Research Institute at Berkeley where he focused on computational geometry problems. Shor explains his decision to return to Bell Labs and his focus on optical fibers, and he explains Google's influence in achieving breakthroughs in theoretical computer science. He describes the origins of Shor's Algorithm and Charles Bennett's involvement in this development. Shor explains when true quantum computing became theoretically feasible, and the various budgetary, theoretical, and political challenges that stand between the current state of play and quantum computer realization. He explains his interest in returning to academia at the time Bell Labs was coming apart, and he explains his contributions to advancing quantum information and the utility this has for AdS/CFT research. Shor describes his current interest in black holes and quantum money, and at the end of the interview, he explains why the question of whether NP = P remains fundamental.

Series of seven interview sessions with Carver Mead, Gordon and Betty Moore Professor Emeritus at Caltech. Mead recounts his childhood in California, and he describes the impact of watching his father’s career in the electric power industry. He credits his schoolteachers for encouraging his early interests in math and science, and he explains why attending Caltech as an undergraduate was an easy choice for him because he felt immediately welcomed during his first visit. He describes what it was like to learn quantum mechanics from Linus Pauling, and he explains that his decision to major in electrical engineering stemmed from the fact that applied physics was shunned in the physics department because Murray Gell-Mann referred to it as “squalid state physics.” Mead describes his decision to stay at Caltech for graduate school, and he explains how he became interested in semiconductors and transistors and what would become the origins of “device physics” and how his dissertation research contributed to these developments. He describes his developing understanding that the future of electronics would be in low power, high-performance devices and why he would be best positioned to foster this future as a faculty member at Caltech. Mead describes his collaborations and interest in industry labs including IBM, RCA, and Bell, and he describes his initial and then longtime work with Gordon Moore. He discusses the value of RF transmitters in 1960s-era communications technology and the prospects of satellite telecommunications at the dawn of the space age. Mead describes the origins of VSLI technology, word processors, and microcomputers, and he describes his collaboration with Lynn Conway and the process that went into the classic textbook they coauthored. He describes his research using the human mind as a source of inspiration to push electronics and microprocessors to the next level, and he explains the value of bouncing ideas off of Feynman over lunch. Mead describes the singular potential of his student and collaborator Misha Mahowald, and the value of his work with Arnold Beckman. He discusses the several companies that were spun out of his research in electronics and biophysics, and he describes his work on cameras with Michihiro Yamaki and the learning curve associated with research culture in Japan. Mead offers his perspective on the need to update the debates between Einstein and Bohr in the wake of recent developments in physics, and he explains the intellectual origins of his text Collective Electrodynamics. He explains why scientific debates can take on philosophical or even religious dynamics, and he discusses the origins of G4V and how to think of gravitational attraction as an analogy to electromagnetic interaction. Relatedly, Mead describes his work with Kip Thorne and his involvement with the LIGO endeavor, and he explains why the line between science and engineering is fuzzier than is commonly understood. He explains the significance of the Shapiro Delay, he surmises that the mystery of Dark Energy is sourced in the fact that physics is approaching the problem in the wrong way, and he explains why physics has become hamstrung in its pursuit of mathematizing physical reality ahead of experimental guidance. Mead explains that his views are rooted in his ability to think in pictures, as opposed to abstract symbols, and that the field needs to be more welcoming and inclusive to those who may see math as a barrier to working in physics at a high level. At the end of the interview, Mead describes his interest in current challenges with electric grid infrastructure, he explains why he has championed the work of women in science throughout his career, and he strikes an optimistic note that science always has and will continue, to provide solutions to the world’s most pressing problems.

In this interview, Fred Goldberg discusses: impact of COVID-19 pandemic on physics education and teaching tools; Jewish heritage, religious, and cultural practices; undergraduate and graduate experience with Bill Williams at University of Michigan; time at West Virginia University; work with Charles Wales; sabbatical with Lillian McDermott at the University of Washington and the beginnings of physics education research (PER); first PER gathering at an American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) meeting; first successful NSF PER proposal; move to San Diego State University to be at the Center for Research on Math and Science Education (CRMSE); Arnold Arons and Alfred Bork’s computer software programs; experiences on the cutting edge of using computers to enhance physics learning; shift from focusing on individual learning to how student groups learn; NSF’s ongoing support for his work; the Constructing Physics Understanding (CPU) project; Physics and Everyday Thinking curriculum development; Next Generation Science Standards curriculum alignment; development of a faculty online learning community (FOLC) and the shift toward studying faculty change and support; role of AAPT; decline of general population’s ability to engage in evidence-based reasoning; and how his work helps teachers develop an informed citizenry. Toward the end of the interview, Goldberg reflects on the difficulties of trying to change the way faculty thinks about teaching and how his own ideas and interests have evolved over the years. He emphasizes the importance of issues of equity and inclusion in science education going forward.

Interview with William H. Press, Leslie Suringer Professor in Computer Science and Integrative Biology at the University of Texas at Austin. Press recounts his childhood in Pasadena and the influence of his father Frank Press, who was a prominent geophysicist, Caltech professor, and who would become science advisor to President Jimmy Carter. He describes the impact of Sputnik on his budding interests in science, and he discusses his undergraduate experience at Harvard, where Dan Kleppner, Norman Ramsey, Ed Purcell and Dick McCray were influential in his development, and where he realized he had an aptitude for applying abstract equations to understanding physical reality. Press describes trying his hand with experimentation in Gerald Holton’s high-pressure physics lab, he recounts his involvement in student activism in the late 1960s, and he discusses his involvement in computer hacking in its earliest form. He explains his decision to attend Caltech for graduate school and his interest in studying with Dick Feynman and Kip Thorne. Press describes the opportunity leading to his work at Lawrence Livermore, how he got involved with Thorne’s group of mathematical general relativists, the origins of Thorne’s work on gravitational waves, and his collaborations with Saul Teukolsky and Paul Schechter. He describes the formative influence of Chandrasekhar. Press discusses his first faculty position at Princeton where he joined John Wheeler’s relativity group, and he describes his research interests flowing more toward astrophysics. He explains the opportunities leading to his tenure at Harvard, where he was given separate appointments in physics and astronomy and where he founded theoretical astrophysics within the Center for Astrophysics. Press describes his entrée into science policy work in Washington with the NSF Physics Advisory Committee and then later on the National Academy of Science and the National Research Council, and he explains the origins of his long-term association with the JASON Study Group. He describes his interest in gravitational collapse, Ia supernovae and galaxy formation, and why the study of black holes reinvigorated the field of general relativity. Press describes the singular genius of Freeman Dyson, and he recounts his contributions to nuclear risk reduction in science policy and his service with the Defense Science Board and the Institute for Defense Analyses. He discusses his tenure as chair in Harvard’s Department of Astronomy, his experience with the Numerical Recipes books, and his collaboration with Adam Riess and Robert Kirshner. Press recounts his decision take a position at Los Alamos as Deputy Director to John Browne, he describes his education there in the concept of leadership which he never received in his academic career, and he provides his perspective on the Wen Ho Lee spy case and the existential crisis this caused at the Lab. He describes the Lab’s role in the early days of computational biology and how this field sparked his interest. Press contextualizes this interest within his conscious decision not to stay connected to astrophysics during his time at Los Alamos, and he explains the opportunity leading to him joining UT-Austin where he remains invested in computational biology. He describes his work for the President’s Council of Advisors in Science and Technology during the Obama administration, he describes Obama’s unique interest in science and science policy, and he narrates the difficulties in the transition to the Trump administration. Press reflects on what it means to be a member of the rarified group of scientists who did not win a Nobel Prize but who were advised by and taught scientists who did. At the end of the interview, Press explains that he has always been a dilettante, which has and will continue to inform how he devotes his time to science, service, and policy matter, and he advises young scientists to aspire to mastery in a specific discipline early in their career before branching out to new pursuits.