STEM impact program: Sonali Mohapatra's story

Can you tell us a bit more about your role and what it involves?

As the quantum innovation sector lead at the National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC), my role involves leading the design and delivery of NQCC’s sectoral innovation strategy.

Our aim is to help discover, validate and develop applications based on real world use-cases of quantum computing in different industries.

It’s certainly an exciting time to be working within the quantum sector, and the UK government is investing a significant amount into how the UK can become the first ‘quantum ready’ economy.

The UK was actually one of the very first countries to introduce a national quantum technologies program back in 2014, alongside a national quantum strategy, which was published in March this year, laying out a 10 year vision, and there’s so much more to come.

These developments won’t just impact one industry or one application, and that’s what I love so much about my role. For example, I focus on how quantum technology will impact a range of industries, from healthcare and pharmaceutical, to financial services, energy, space and AI.

My team and I work to identify use cases and then help put mechanisms in place for businesses to experiment with and understand how this innovative technology can - and one day will - impact them.

Since Quantum Computing is such a different type of technology from our current technologies, the path to quantum readiness will be a complex journey with multiple elements, ranging from training people to encode problems in this highly novel manner, to ensuring we have enough skills and talent in this area in the next ten years to fill all the jobs that will be created.

Developing the required software, applications and hardware and laying a roadmap for their commercialisation is also important, as well as working with government, regulators and policy makers to understand and develop new policies and regulations to keep customers and developers safe in the new landscape - all of which we tackle within our team.

Our aim is to ensure that these businesses are ready to hit the ground running, and be in a position to apply quantum technology as soon as it becomes commercially viable in the next 5-10 years.

What industry did you visualise yourself working in when you were a child? Have you always been passionate about STEM?

Since I was a very young child, I’ve always been interested in space. I can remember cutting out clippings from newspapers and magazines and pretending that I was doing a research project on black holes, aged about 7 or 8. 

This got me into the ‘research’ mindset, something that has been a fundamental part of my career to date, having worked on a real range of different projects.

As I progressed through school and on to university, studying an increasingly broad range of subjects, I enjoyed seeing how these seemingly different topics were always in some way connected. From cancer research, to neuroscience and cognition to fractals - science really does fascinate me.

Having focused on theoretical physics in my undergraduate degree, my PHD specialised in black holes and quantum gravity - something that wasn’t too far off from my childhood vision.

What excites you most about your role and industry?

I’ve always been interested in cutting edge technologies and the power of innovation in shaping our world. I’d say that’s what excited me the most about quantum physics, and while we’re still 10 - 20 years away from this technology being rolled out, when it happens, the impact will be almost unimaginable.

In your opinion, why do you think that schools struggle to engage pupils with STEM subjects?

I think the barrier to students engaging with STEM subjects is starting to lower, especially as the majority can now access video content via the internet and YouTube.

Not only is this making STEM subjects far more engaging for students studying for their GCSEs, I’ve seen people of all ages researching topics that would previously have felt completely inaccessible.

I believe that STEM subjects are some of the most exciting, and providing children and teenagers with hands-on experience will go a long way to improving engagement.

Text heavy discussions are off putting, especially if the topic is complex, whereas visualising something taking place or having it explained like a story will really capture a young person’s imagination.

From my own experiences, I’ve noticed that the messaging women receive can be very different to the messaging men receive throughout their education. A large number of women want to progress from their undergraduate studies to focus on a STEM subject for their PHD but this doesn’t translate into reality.

I often question if this is down to representation. If you showed most people a picture of Albert Einstein they would instantly recognise him, however Emmy Noether, the ‘mother of modern algebra’ is rarely mentioned - let alone a recognisable figure.

How do you think schools can showcase the fantastic opportunities on offer across the STEM related industries?

As already mentioned, hands-on experience is key. Just because a student might find the exam structures of STEM subjects off putting, or the classroom environment uninspiring, it doesn’t mean they are a bad student. Schools need to be adaptable to ensure they achieve their full potential.

This might involve inviting inspirational speakers into the classroom or getting involved in wider initiatives, such as Soapbox Science or taking students to various national lab tours etc, introducing Kerbal space program type games as a learning tool etc.

What one piece of advice would you give a teenager who may be considering studying STEM subjects?

From the development of AI, to technology designed to slow global warming, or the potential applications of quantum computing, we’re seeing disciplines coming together and collaborating as a force for good.

We are currently in a very exciting time in terms of technology - in 10 years, the world will probably look very different. This in itself should be enough of a reason to explore the opportunities available within the field of STEM.

For example, 10 years ago no one would have envisioned that we would be this close to quantum technology becoming a reality. It’s now been translated from theory into practice and I’m so excited to be working within this industry.

I studied physics because I really liked fantasy books and sci-fi, yet it turns out that real physics is even more mind boggling than the books I used to read and films I would watch. I was extremely bad at certain problems in classical physics (haha!) and even failed quite a few tests in various subjects when I was struggling with depression.

So, you don’t have to get perfect grades and you don’t have to be great at everything, nor do you have to figure out your exact “niche” to work in very early on - just follow your passion to explore the topics you love the most in the moment, build strong fundamentals, be open to opportunities and you are sure to uncover beautiful things along your quest.