Six Ways Students Can Prepare to Catch the Quantum Wave

surfer wave — Quantum software development teams has a few ways for students to prepare to surf the coming quantum wave.

As quantum computing continues to emerge, quantum jobs are expected to multiply, but experts at quantum software developer Classiq say the larger problem is that there are still so few quantum computing experts in the world.

However, this growing demand for quantum experts meeting a limited pool of talent is an equation that you don’t need a quantum computer to decipher. It adds up to a huge opportunity for students considering career paths right now.

According to Dr. Yehuda Naveh, co-founder and CTO at Classiq, there are a few things future job prospects can do (below) to ride the quantum wave.

Choose the right major. The most relevant majors for quantum computing are physics, math, and computer science. If you’re more oriented to building the components, electrical engineering is another good choice. Whatever you choose, study in-depth from day one. You’d be amazed how a deep understanding of the earlier courses is the true jump-start of your career. Study not for grades. Study to get to the bottom of it.
Read, read, and read some more. There is a mountain of publicly available material on quantum computing. Seek to understand the world of quantum and separate the hype from reality.
Decide on the book that you’d read cover-to-cover. An obvious choice is “Quantum Computation and Quantum Information” by Michael Nielsen and Isaac Chuang. Prof. Nielsen also has an excellent blog and YouTube video series. There are several other excellent quantum blogs including those by John Preskill and Scott Aaronson.
Experiment with open-source programming environments and write some quantum code. IBM Qiskit and Microsoft Q# are excellent starting points. Try running your code both on classical simulators and on real quantum hardware. Looking for something extra? Contribute to the open-source software framework you are using. You will feel the hands-on reward and impact, and you will instantly become part of the community.
Ask questions and engage in discussions. The quantum computing community is small and friendly. To the extent you can, take a field trip to knock on some quantum doors. If travel is a problem and you have a real question, many will be willing to spend 15 minutes of their time with you on Zoom. Don’t be shy.
Have fun in what you do. Leave sufficient time to reflect, to enjoy, to understand why you are there. And if necessary, to adjust.