Professor Viv Kendon is a Professor of Physics at the University of Strathclyde and the Chair for CCP-QC, which aims to bring about close co-operation between other CCPs and the quantum computing community, rather than build a separate computational community for quantum computing. 

CCP-QC aims to build an active research community encompassing CCP members interested in enhancing their simulations by adding quantum computing capability to their code, and quantum technology researchers working on applications of quantum computing to simulations.

The team works on small projects supported by CoSeC staff to develop methods appropriate to specific applications, leading to proof-of-concept demonstrations on early quantum hardware. This will also develop capacity in CoSeC for quantum computing.

Research Community Manager Alison Oliver talks to Professor Kendon about her career so far and what set her on the path to quantum computing and eventually working with CoSeC.

1. You studied physics at the University of Oxford before eventually moving to Edinburgh to study fluid dynamics. What was it that introduced you to physics as a discipline and what was it that led you to study it at university?

I liked physics at school, so studying the subject at university was a no-brainer. I was very good at maths, and my teachers were annoyed I didn’t want to study maths at university. However, I wanted to study physics and still involve maths! After leaving Oxford, I had a break and did all sorts of things, before moving into industry and the voluntary sector to work in global electronic networking.

• What led you to return to academia and study a PhD in computational fluid dynamics?

It was difficult back then as a mature student. I ended up doing computational fluid dynamics as that was the best opportunity. Statistical mechanics was the backdrop to what I had been doing, and fluid simulations was the option available. Getting there wasn’t a straightforward path. It was unexpected for anyone wishing to return to academia in physics after time away. It was partly gender difference that I didn’t get offered opportunities as women often have hurdles and gaps to tackle. After my PhD, I switched to quantum computing which is where I wanted to be.

• How did your academic career continue then?

I had three fellowships – first at Imperial College London where I studied random walks on discrete lattices and to Leeds with the Royal Society URF. I then joined Durham with an EPSRC fellowship as a member of the Quantum Light and Matter (QLM) research section and the Joint Quantum Centre.  I worked with some great people – fantastic colleagues and wonderful PhD students during those years. As I was slightly older than average in each fellowship, I could feed back better on shortcomings and what needed to change, like being able to support PhD students and others at various stages in their careers. I then moved to the University of Strathclyde after the pandemic, for a more supportive environment for my research.

• Does your teaching and research motivate and influence each other? Do you continue to get research ideas from your work and incorporate your ideas into your teaching?

I’m in it for the research – this should be clear after three fellowships!  I have always done some teaching alongside the research, and I’m good at teaching and motivating my students, but the real job satisfaction for me comes from research ideas and discovery. University teaching involves research, despite it looking from the outside more like admin. You have to be very involved and really know what the students are working on is correct or come up with ideas for what they try next.

• What is the most exciting research that you are currently working on?

I’m about to have fun, thanks to funding from ARIA to look at alternative models of computation in photonic systems. I’ve collaborated with Susan Stepney from University of York for more than 20 years now. But this is almost literally the first jointly funded project we’ve been awarded, having applied so many times before without success, despite having a string of papers that we’ve co-authored.

We get to drop a lot of the assumptions, starting with what can be built in the lab, what works, what’s got cool properties? And then we ask, what does the model look like? Can we work up from that to say, how should you use it to compute? Should you be building neural networks with this? Should you be doing classical computing? Should you be doing quantum of various types? What’s the best problem then that fits that computational model? So, we will obtain a methodology that can be applied more widely, but we’ll also learn a lot about what computation is. We’ll also learn how we should be doing working with new equipment, as the computation is changing a lot. We’ve had decades of silicon CMOS, and it’s extremely good, but we can’t take it any further. You have to do different architectures or different paradigms for how you compute if you want to do more.

• In 2020, Kendon launched the Computational Collaborative Project: Quantum Computing (CPP-QC), which looks to develop the first useful applications of quantum computers. What led to this project starting? Was beginning during the COVID-19 pandemic a challenge?

It started the previous May when materials scientists organised a meeting to discuss where quantum computing was currently at. I was invited by a colleague at Durham, and it was agreed at this meeting that quantum computing was a go for a CCP. I was asked to apply to lead the CCP, but the email got stuck and when I found out, I had three weeks to prepare but was ultimately successful!

I went to RAL en route to a panel in Swindon and met some of the CoSeC team in early March 2020. Our official start was 15^th March and within days, we went into lockdown. There we were, meant to be starting a new CCP and getting people together who didn’t normally know each other.

The first two years were tricky therefore and we didn’t do as much training as we had planned but we still organised online meetings. However, it was the small projects that worked well because they have subsets of the community working together – those interested in a quantum algorithm in their application, and those already working in quantum computing who wish to help with that application. When you put those people together, good things happen! Opportunities also arise for collaboration where colleagues can advise or find it relates to what they’re working on.

• Please could you tell us what CCP-QC has achieved during its first five years?

Despite the tricky start due to COVID, we’ve since achieved a lot. It leveraged funding under the Excalibur project, which then gave us time to work more intensively on applications. On the materials side, we went for solid solutions – alloys, rather than an electronic structure – as we wanted to work on something that wasn’t mainstream but from an applications perspective, was still very important. This work was done with a great team at UCL who developed the methodology which shows how you work out an optimization problem.

For fluid simulation, we’re looking at lattice, Boltzmann and smooth particle hydrodynamics which has applications in cosmology, as well as engineering. There are also people working on quantum algorithms for direct numerical simulation and other fluid simulation methods. It’s a harder problem to find an advantage in, but it means you can do real basic algorithm development and see what comes out of it.

Postdocs help to keep the research going and the new quantum technology hub, which started on 1^st December 2024, has for the first time, applications as well as quantum scientists in the core team, so we can continue the work there.

During lockdown, we looked at crystallography and examined an old algorithm that is not used classically but could be useful for quantum computing. However, we found it difficult to understand the 3-dimensional problems on our 2-dimensional screens until we met in person! One of my PhD students is continuing to work on this, but it is still very difficult to pick apart such a technically coded problem.

One of our most important aims is to upskill the CoSeC team and computing teams as a whole, as we need to embed the expertise, so it can be used by all the existing CCPS. Then we’ll be able to focus on the applications.

So, we’ll see at the end of the Bridge project where we are, and how we need to continue, because it may be that there’s just a different way for that to happen. There are parallels with AI where many CCPs need to make use of AI and you want to get the skills in the right place to support that. It works to have a CCP in quantum computing because of the longer-timescale, compared to AI.

• What has been the value that CoSeC has brought to CCP-QC?

It was essential during lockdown because we couldn’t run workshops and therefore get to know people in the communities. CoSeC was well connected so we could work with new people and build relationships. Our crystallography work has been almost entirely with the CoSeC communities who were also doing what they could during the lockdowns.

There is a great deal of knowledge that is curated and passed on from the CoSeC communities that has helped us make these essential connections. Colleagues at CoSeC have enjoyed being part of the research and therefore, they are like equals with us in the work that we do, which has been great.

• How would you encourage young people to get into quantum computing? What words of advice would you give someone hoping to make it into a career?

Make sure you work in an area you find really motivating and has good hardware and development prospects. Speak to people who are a few years into their career and how they got there and what has changed. Also consider working overseas as this may lead to further opportunities. Expect to have to change and shift gears as you progress in your career.

1.  What do you think the most important recent developments in the field have been? What do you think will be the most exciting and productive areas of research in quantum computing during the next few years?

I think it’s important to have fun and learn from what is happening now.  There have been recent large developments in error correction advances. I follow it, rather than work on it particularly closely. These developments are useful incremental steps forward. The engineering process though is a slow, steady climb. All of us have mobile phones now but it took six decades to achieve what we now hold in our hands. The COVID vaccines were developed in months but there was ten years of research into the methodology that was sitting there ready to be used. Quantum computing is the same and will not come overnight.

1. Who have been the people who have been influential in your career?

My PhD supervisor, Professor Mike Cates at Cambridge.  Professor Steve Barnett at Glasgow who enabled me to switch fields and that was the first time I worked at Strathclyde before moving to Imperial; Professor Sir Peter Knight, who was my boss at Imperial. He is the grandfather of quantum computing in the UK, and has been everyone’s support in the field ever since.

1. If you had not got involved in the field of quantum computing, what do you think you would have done? (Is there another field that you could have seen yourself making an impact on?)

There are a zillion things I could have done! I was a seriously good Linux systems administrator before my PhD, running an early Internet Service Provider, so I could have ended up in HPC, or research on the Internet development, or consulting, or computer support. There was always something I had as a fallback.  I also have a strong creative streak, which is important for research ideas, but I could have channelled it in many other directions.

1. You studied physics at the University of Oxford before eventually moving to Edinburgh to study fluid dynamics. What was it that introduced you to physics as a discipline and what was it that led you to study it at university?

I liked physics at school, so studying the subject at university was a no-brainer. I was very good at maths, and my teachers were annoyed I didn’t want to study maths at university. However, I wanted to study physics and still involve maths! After leaving Oxford, I had a break and did all sorts of things, before moving into industry and the voluntary sector to work in global electronic networking.

• What led you to return to academia and study a PhD in computational fluid dynamics?

It was difficult back then as a mature student. I ended up doing computational fluid dynamics as that was the best opportunity. Statistical mechanics was the backdrop to what I had been doing, and fluid simulations was the option available. Getting there wasn’t a straightforward path. It was unexpected for anyone wishing to return to academia in physics after time away. It was partly gender difference that I didn’t get offered opportunities as women often have hurdles and gaps to tackle. After my PhD, I switched to quantum computing which is where I wanted to be.

• How did your academic career continue then?

I had three fellowships – first at Imperial College London where I studied random walks on discrete lattices and to Leeds with the Royal Society URF. I then joined Durham with an EPSRC fellowship as a member of the Quantum Light and Matter (QLM) research section and the Joint Quantum Centre.  I worked with some great people – fantastic colleagues and wonderful PhD students during those years. As I was slightly older than average in each fellowship, I could feed back better on shortcomings and what needed to change, like being able to support PhD students and others at various stages in their careers. I then moved to the University of Strathclyde after the pandemic, for a more supportive environment for my research.

• Does your teaching and research motivate and influence each other? Do you continue to get research ideas from your work and incorporate your ideas into your teaching?

I’m in it for the research – this should be clear after three fellowships!  I have always done some teaching alongside the research, and I’m good at teaching and motivating my students, but the real job satisfaction for me comes from research ideas and discovery. University teaching involves research, despite it looking from the outside more like admin. You have to be very involved and really know what the students are working on is correct or come up with ideas for what they try next.

• What is the most exciting research that you are currently working on?

I’m about to have fun, thanks to funding from ARIA to look at alternative models of computation in photonic systems. I’ve collaborated with Susan Stepney from University of York for more than 20 years now. But this is almost literally the first jointly funded project we’ve been awarded, having applied so many times before without success, despite having a string of papers that we’ve co-authored.

We get to drop a lot of the assumptions, starting with what can be built in the lab, what works, what’s got cool properties? And then we ask, what does the model look like? Can we work up from that to say, how should you use it to compute? Should you be building neural networks with this? Should you be doing classical computing? Should you be doing quantum of various types? What’s the best problem then that fits that computational model? So, we will obtain a methodology that can be applied more widely, but we’ll also learn a lot about what computation is. We’ll also learn how we should be doing working with new equipment, as the computation is changing a lot. We’ve had decades of silicon CMOS, and it’s extremely good, but we can’t take it any further. You have to do different architectures or different paradigms for how you compute if you want to do more.

• In 2020, you Computational Collaborative Project: Quantum Computing (CPP-QC), which looks to develop the first useful applications of quantum computers. What led to this project starting? Was beginning during the COVID-19 pandemic a challenge?

It started the previous May when materials scientists organised a meeting to discuss where quantum computing was currently at. I was invited by a colleague at Durham, and it was agreed at this meeting that quantum computing was a go for a CCP. I was asked to apply to lead the CCP, but the email got stuck and when I found out, I had three weeks to prepare but was ultimately successful!

I went to RAL en route to a panel in Swindon and met some of the CoSeC team in early March 2020. Our official start was 15^th March and within days, we went into lockdown. There we were, meant to be starting a new CCP and getting people together who didn’t normally know each other.

The first two years were tricky therefore and we didn’t do as much training as we had planned but we still organised online meetings. However, it was the small projects that worked well because they have subsets of the community working together – those interested in a quantum algorithm in their application, and those already working in quantum computing who wish to help with that application. When you put those people together, good things happen! Opportunities also arise for collaboration where colleagues can advise or find it relates to what they’re working on.

• Please could you tell us what CCP-QC has achieved during its first five years?

Despite the tricky start due to COVID, we’ve since achieved a lot. It leveraged funding under the Excalibur project, which then gave us time to work more intensively on applications. On the materials side, we went for solid solutions – alloys, rather than an electronic structure – as we wanted to work on something that wasn’t mainstream but from an applications perspective, was still very important. This work was done with a great team at UCL who developed the methodology which shows how you work out an optimization problem.

For fluid simulation, we’re looking at lattice, Boltzmann and smooth particle hydrodynamics which has applications in cosmology, as well as engineering. There are also people working on quantum algorithms for direct numerical simulation and other fluid simulation methods. It’s a harder problem to find an advantage in, but it means you can do real basic algorithm development and see what comes out of it.

Postdocs help to keep the research going and the new quantum technology hub, which started on 1^st December 2024, has for the first time, applications as well as quantum scientists in the core team, so we can continue the work there.

During lockdown, we looked at crystallography and examined an old algorithm that is not used classically but could be useful for quantum computing. However, we found it difficult to understand the 3-dimensional problems on our 2-dimensional screens until we met in person! One of my PhD students is continuing to work on this, but it is still very difficult to pick apart such a technically coded problem.

One of our most important aims is to upskill the CoSeC team and computing teams as a whole, as we need to embed the expertise, so it can be used by all the existing CCPS. Then we’ll be able to focus on the applications.

So, we’ll see at the end of the Bridge project where we are, and how we need to continue, because it may be that there’s just a different way for that to happen. There are parallels with AI where many CCPs need to make use of AI and you want to get the skills in the right place to support that. It works to have a CCP in quantum computing because of the longer-timescale, compared to AI.

• What has been the value that CoSeC has brought to QC-CCP?

It was essential during lockdown because we couldn’t run workshops and therefore get to know people in the communities. CoSeC was well connected so we could work with new people and build relationships. Our crystallography work has been almost entirely with the CoSeC communities who were also doing what they could during the lockdowns.

There is a great deal of knowledge that is curated and passed on from the CoSeC communities that has helped us make these essential connections. Colleagues at CoSeC have enjoyed being part of the research and therefore, they are like equals with us in the work that we do, which has been great.

• How would you encourage young people to get into quantum computing? What words of advice would you give someone hoping to make it into a career?

Make sure you work in an area you find really motivating and has good hardware and development prospects. Speak to people who are a few years into their career and how they got there and what has changed. Also consider working overseas as this may lead to further opportunities. Expect to have to change and shift gears as you progress in your career.

1.  What do you think the most important recent developments in the field have been? What do you think will be the most exciting and productive areas of research in quantum computing during the next few years?

I think it’s important to have fun and learn from what is happening now.  There have been recent large developments in error correction advances. I follow it, rather than work on it particularly closely. These developments are useful incremental steps forward. The engineering process though is a slow, steady climb. All of us have mobile phones now but it took six decades to achieve what we now hold in our hands. The COVID vaccines were developed in months but there was ten years of research into the methodology that was sitting there ready to be used. Quantum computing is the same and will not come overnight.

1. Who have been the people who have been influential in your career?

My PhD supervisor, Professor Mike Cates at Cambridge.  Professor Steve Barnett at Glasgow who enabled me to switch fields and that was the first time I worked at Strathclyde before moving to Imperial; Professor Sir Peter Knight, who was my boss at Imperial. He is the grandfather of quantum computing in the UK, and has been everyone’s support in the field ever since.

1. If you had not got involved in the field of quantum computing, what do you think you would have done? (Is there another field that you could have seen yourself making an impact on?)

There are a zillion things I could have done! I was a seriously good Linux systems administrator before my PhD, running an early Internet Service Provider, so I could have ended up in HPC, or research on the Internet development, or consulting, or computer support. There was always something I had as a fallback.  I also have a strong creative streak, which is important for research ideas, but I could have channelled it in many other directions.