Super Seven #23 Vaibhav Jain
In our 23rd Super Seven Series we profile Vaibhav Jain. Vaibhav worked with us during his Masters, then joined us as an intern and now as our Graduate Photonics Engineer.
1. Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
I was born and brought up in Jhansi, a small town in India, but have been mostly away from my hometown since finishing high school. I attained a dual degree of Master’s in Physics and Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering (funky, I know!!!) from BITS, Hyderabad. After my Masters, I joined Reflexis Systems, located in Pune, as a software developer and worked there for more than two years, which is where I learnt the ABC of coding and software development. Thereafter, I began my journey with quantum technologies, starting with my masters in Optoelectronics and Quantum Technologies from the University of Bristol followed by my Master’s thesis project and internship with KETS; culminating in my present role as a Graduate Photonics Engineer.
2. What do you do in KETS?
I am working as a Graduate Photonics Engineer at KETS in research and application, gaining a conceptual understanding of the relevant quantum technologies. I’m focussed on Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), going through various research papers and literature available and working on simulating or in some cases developing codebase for implementing systems’ integral procedures. My role also involves working with the team on the development of the real-time hardware implementation of the QKD protocols, involving electrical and optical components alike.
3. What’s the most enjoyable part of your job?
I think the most enjoyable aspect of my job is the field itself, in the sense that QKD is a very recent domain of Quantum Technology to be a part of the team researching and developing its real-time implementation has been so much fun. We’re at the beginning of this technology; it’s exciting to assimilate knowledge from various sources to establish an understanding of the concepts and then to implement them, knowing this work forms the basis of ongoing research and development of these systems.
It has been such a joy to work under the supervision of Francesco Raffaelli, who has allowed me to work with real freedom, giving me time to work over the implementation of recently researched and novel aspects of QKD systems. The biggest joy has been working with the people at KETS who, in my opinion, have been chosen so meticulously, as each of them shares a deep passion for their work and is so open to discussion as well as collaboration.
4. What inspires you?
On the risk of sounding cliché, the things which inspire me the most are the underdog or comeback stories, be it in any domain of life. Maybe it is the influence of watching too much anime and sports (more about it later 😊), but I love the stories of people transcending huge obstacles or boundaries with sheer optimism and coming out on top despite being pushed into the corner. The most thrilling part about it is that this happens multiple times in each and everyone’s life and I love to hear about their stories and get inspired to do the same.
5. What advice would you give someone wanting to get into the quantum field?
The best advice I could give would be to shed the notion that doing Quantum is hard; especially the mathematics aspect. I believe the mathematics involved with Quantum is relatively much easier and self-contained than any other area, as you almost start from scratch in Quantum (even the basic bra-ket notation is taught from the start) and although the knowledge of Linear Algebra is a requisite, it is still a bit easier to start and get your head around!!
6. What do you do when you’re not in work?
Well, mostly I love to either play or watch any sport, especially cricket, football, or basketball, in my free time, along with reading articles about which team should win the title this year, statistical analysis, etc. etc., so in a nutshell, I am a sports nerd!!! Recently, I have been trying badminton as well.
I also love to travel and explore places and am especially weird with my penchant to explore places which are far from my living place, even though there might be so many cool places to visit nearby!! Last summer, I went to Cornwall, and it has been one of the highlights of living in the UK for more than a year.
7. What’s your sports team of choice?
Well, this is spread across various sports, so I am going to pick up football and cricket as my choice of sports. My favourite club in the Premier League is Chelsea. This happened due to the weird coincidence of me picking Chelsea as my default team in the infamous computer game FIFA 12, leading to more thorough research about the team and since then I have followed their progress for 10 years and counting. My favourite team in cricket is for obvious reasons, India, and it has been a joy to watch them play recently with success, especially in Test cricket outside India, which was a rare sight in early days.
To get in touch with Vaibhav, drop us an email at enquiry@kets-quantum.com