Manuel S. Rudolph

Manuel S. Rudolph

Quantum Application Scientist

Manuel studied Physics at Germany’s oldest university, the University of Heidelberg. During his Masters program, he has worked as a graduate assistant, diving into the world of near-term quantum computation. He did his Master thesis titled ‘Exploring and Benchmarking Quantum-assisted Neural Networks with Qubit Layers’ in collaboration with the Honda Research Institute Europe. After his M.Sc. degree, he worked on developing a higher-level quantum computing infrastructure for his Professor’s ultra-cold atom experiments. Wanting to further pursue quantum computing and quantum algorithms, Manuel applied as an Intern at Zapata Computing.

 

Question & Answer

Why have you chosen a career in quantum?

Quantum is so beautifully un-intuitive and yet there exist mathematical formulations for quantum systems. It is amazing how we can make nature ‘calculate’ something for us. I want to be on the forefront of the quickly maturing field of quantum computation.

 

What is a problem you dream of solving (with quantum)?

We try to mimic and eventually outperform the learning potential of humans with machine learning algorithms and specifically Artificial Neural Networks. I believe that quantum can be an important constituent in such algorithms and I aim to find out how.

 

What’s your superpower?
My silly jokes make at least one person that hears them smile. That one person might be me.