Having studied for a degree in mathematics and physics, Kevin McIver went on to become a high school physics teacher for a number of years

Having originally studied English Language and Literature at undergraduate level, but always having had a love for maths and physics as well, Richard Hopkins decided to pursue a career in IT starting at IBM.

Growing up close to the ancient University of Padua, where he would one day study, Ugo had a great interest in physics from a very young age.

What could quantum computing mean for everyday life, and - more importantly - what inspired Winfried to become a quantum physicist?

Steven started his physics journey by undertaking a theoretical physics degree, before switching paths to experimental physics and taking up a PhD at the University of Birmingham, building a cold atom system.

While in the final year of her undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering, at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Laura applied for and won a position on The Bobby Jones Fellowship exchange programme with the University of St Andrews in Scotland.

Physics had always been one of the subjects Ke Guo excelled at in school, so that, combined with her love for learning new things and discovering new applications meant a career in quantum science was for her.

After six years of working in aerospace engineering, Araceli Venegas-Gomez decided this was no longer for her and took the plunge to swap her career for one in quantum.

After completing her Masters in theoretical physics at Imperial College London, Sophie started her experimental physics PhD with the University of York and the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in London.

Having been told he wasn’t good enough to study triple science at GCSE, Ryan Parker went on to study A Level chemistry, obtain a degree in chemistry and subsequently a PhD in quantum technologies!

Simon Foster had a love for space from a very early age; he attended a normal state school in London but struggled to read and write.

Professor Nicole Metje moved to the UK to undertake a PhD in Civil Engineering with a focus on sediment erosion processes along coastlines in 1998

Archie Jones is incredibly passionate about science and enjoys creating and filming his own science related videos.

After moving to the UK in 2000. Elham was not very familiar with quantum computing but curiosity got the better of her and she embarked upon a PhD in quantum computing at Imperial College London

We caught up with Emma Le Francois to find out more about being a PhD student and what motivated her to join the UK National Quantum Technologies Programme.

After obtaining a PhD in ultrasonic signal processing and subsequently working as a postdoctoral research associate (postdoc for short) at the University of Bristol, Caroline Clark left academia to work as a consultant in the civil nuclear industry.

Dr Almut Beige studied for a PhD at the Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Göttingen, Germany, before holding several different postdoctoral positions

Ciara completed a PhD in applied cryptography at Queen’s University Belfast, focused on the hardware acceleration of fully homomorphic encryption, a type of cryptography which enables computation on encrypted data.

We caught up with Ryan Warburton to find out how his career has developed since leaving his research role in academia to join Edinburgh based Photon Force.

Having studied chemistry and physics during her undergraduate degree at the University of Sydney, Dr Zixin Huang undertook a PhD in quantum photonics

Cassandra Mercury has had a varied career that’s seen her move from sunny Los Angeles, where she was born and raised, to Edinburgh to pursue a role engineering quantum technologies for space.

As a child, Dr Rupesh Kumar always enjoyed working with his hands and had an affinity for subjects like mathematics and science, so becoming an experimental physicist was quite a natural career choice for him.

Dr Siddarth Koduru Joshi had a keen interest in physics from a very early age and as he and his understanding of physics grew, his interest in quantum quickly developed.

Having particularly enjoyed chemistry and physics at school, Dr Ross Donaldson initially set out to pursue a career in nuclear engineering

Kimberley Brook is a law graduate who has spent a number of years applying the knowledge, skills and experience she gained from her time and education in law to the commercialisation of quantum technologies.

The team at Quantum City partner QuantIC caught up with Akhil Kallepalli to find out more about joining Professor Miles Padgett’s Optics group last year and the challenges he has faced during the COVID pandemic.

Dr Aurora Maccarone’s initial love for physics stemmed from a trip to the laboratory of her aunt, who was a physicist that studied cosmic rays, and being fascinated by what she saw.

Jonte Hance had a love for physics from a very early age, he loved to read Horrible Science magazines and to take things apart in order to figure out how they worked – much to the frustration of his parents who banned him from even touching the TV remote for that very reason!

Originally from Ukraine, Max undertook an undergraduate degree in Physics, with a specialism in quantum physics, followed by a Masters in quantum, before moving to the UK to undertake a PhD at the University of Sheffield.

Dr Farah Al-Sallami, originally from Iraq, is a Communications Engineer. She studied in Jordan for a Bachelor’s degree in Communications Engineering and a Master’s degree in Wireless Communications Engineering, before becoming a lecturer in Electrical and Electronics Engineering.

Dr Matt Edgar left the QuantIC team in 2018 to join one of the UK’s most innovative, disruptive technology businesses - M Squared Lasers as a Product Owner.

Having enjoyed all sciences at school, Dr Igor Konieczniak decided to run with his interest in biology and chemistry, and apply it to a degree in pharmacy.

Dr. He Li has had a love for mathematics and physics from a very early age. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree in physics from Yangzhou University, Master’s degree in microelectronics from Tianjin University, China, and his PhD degree in electrical and electronic engineering from Imperial College London, UK.

Having studied literature at undergraduate and postgraduate level, Manjeet worked in a number of different marketing and communications roles before joining the UK Quantum Technology Hub in Sensors and Timing as a communications officer, based at the University of Birmingham.

Having enjoyed studying all sciences at school, Dr Rachel Free decided to study chemistry at university to fulfill her dream of becoming a scientist.

Having loved physics and coding since high-school, Ania Brown was always set on a career that married the two together.

After studying archaeology and anthropology at postgraduate level for a number of years, Dr. Georgia Mortzou decided that a career in academia was not for her and chose instead to pivot and pursue a career in research support within the Quantum Communications Hub, based at the University of York.

Having studied maths, physics and PE at A Level, Luke Johnson went on to study maths and physics at the University of York, particularly enjoying the quantum elements of his studies, which culminated in a research project in quantum computing. After graduating, Luke applied to join IBM’s graduate scheme and was successful. He now works as a ‘Customer Success Manager – Architect’ for the company, as well as being an IBM Quantum Ambassador.

Having studied physics at postgraduate level, Dr David Shaw began a career in management consulting working for multiple firms across various sectors, before launching his own business information company in quantum, Fact Based Insight. David is now expanding his journey in venture capital.

Having originally studied law at university and qualified as a tax advisor, Amanda Howes decided that wasn’t for her and took a career break. She travelled the world and when she returned, she took the opportunity to work in an admin position at the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and has not looked back since. Amanda has held several roles at EPSRC and has worked as a portfolio manager in quantum for a number of years. Despite not originally coming from a STEM background, Amanda absolutely loves her job.