Meet Olivia Lanes

IBM Quantum Global Lead for Learning + Education, Yorktown Location

Writing by Gia Miller

What is quantum computing?

With a normal computer, everything is translated into a series of zeros and ones, which corresponds to a bit of information. When you add another bit to a computer motherboard, the amount of information you can create grows. But there’s a limit to how many bits can fit on a microchip. And while our computer chips can’t get any smaller, we still need more computing power; there are still plenty of unanswered questions in computing. The only way to combat this is to harness the power of quantum physics. Quantum computers rely upon the laws of quantum physics; instead of having zero or one bits in your computer, we use qubits, or quantum bits, which can be a little bit of zero and a little bit of one simultaneously. It’s a little like going from a flat, two-dimensional space to a 3D space, and instead of the amount of information being stored on a line, it’s now a sphere. It’s a lot more informational space, which means there are more and different algorithms you can run on a quantum computer.

Can you give me an example?

Some of the big questions involve chemistry. For example, we work with Moderna, and they want to simulate different types of drug interactions, but normal computers can’t do this. It’s just so hard and it requires so much processing power that the computers just give up after a certain point. Quantum computers can handle these types of computations because the chips contain different types of bits, and those bits are a lot more powerful.

When did quantum computing begin?

The first quantum computing chip was put on the cloud in 2016, but the idea of quantum computing has probably been around since the 1960s. People have been theorizing and dreaming about it for decades; IBM was the first to actually do it. They developed a tiny little chip that couldn’t do much, and now we have much bigger processors and computers.

Why was it put on the cloud?

It allows anyone with Internet accessibility to send quantum jobs and program experiments to the chip. They receive about 10 minutes of free access to try it out. Being on the cloud also allows researchers and developers to try new algorithms, businesses to see if it will improve their overall computational workflow, finance companies to compute all their data, etc. Businesses who are concerned about privacy can purchase their own system.

What inspired you to study quantum physics?

 I’ve always been a scientist, and I got into physics watching Carl Sagan DVDs when I was 13 years old. I decided I wanted to be an astronomer, which is a pretty similar degree to physics. But during my senior year of college, I realized I didn’t want to be an astronomer anymore based on an astronomy internship I didn’t really like. I pivoted from astronomy to quantum physics while applying for graduate school. It was a split-second decision I made at 3 a.m. I figured I would apply, but if I didn’t get in, it would be okay. Surprisingly, I got into a few schools even though I didn’t have the requirements.

What is a personal hurdle you’ve had to overcome?

 When I got to graduate school, my advisor said, “So you want to work in a quantum physics lab, but you have no electronics experience and no engineering experience. You have a bunch of astronomy classes on your resume, but that’s not very helpful.’ I told him I was willing to work hard and catch up, so I had to take some undergraduate classes in graduate school, which was very humbling. It made me feel like the dumb one in this group of geniuses. I felt really insecure in the beginning.

How did you how did you move past that?

I was lucky enough to make really good friends who kept me sane and constantly told me it wasn’t really a setback. That allowed me to keep going every single day, even when I didn’t want to. I definitely struggled at the beginning, and there were exams where I got horrible grades that I had never seen before. I felt like my world was ending, but I had to put it in perspective and realize it wasn’t a reflection of me or my abilities. It took me years to do that.

What is a significant challenge IBM’s quantum computing department is facing?

Classic computers are already really good, and with the development of machine learning, the benchmark to beat them is always moving. Communicating that to investors and new business leaders is a challenge on top of the challenge to explain quantum physics and give them a vision for the future. I know it sounds like magic or a fictitious pseudoscience thing, but it’s not; we’re developing something that is very usable.

What’s your dream?

To change society a little bit and push it towards the direction where more people think like a scientist and are confident that they can become a scientist. If I can push that forward a little bit, I feel like that would be a very successful life.

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This article was published in the September/October 2024 edition of Connect to Northern Westchester.