Leading the charge in quantum innovation at the UK's National Quantum Computing Centre, Sonali Mohapatra is helping bridge the past, present, and future of science and technology.
I recall the frequent power failures in the Chintamaniswar Temple neighbourhood of Bhubaneswar, Odisha, where I spent my childhood with my grandparents in India.
Those electricity outages, inconvenient as they were, held a special magic for me. My mother would lead my siblings and me to the roof, where we'd shake out our jute mats and hang mosquito nets, depending on the season. Lying side by side, we'd gaze at the stars, learn the names of the constellations, try to identify satellites, and recite mathematical tables.
We were, after all, in Odisha – the cradle of the legendary early scientist Pathani Samanta, known as the last naked-eye astronomer. Influenced by my mother's curiosity and a rigorous scientific education that drew on both Eastern and Western space exploration and astronomical history, I dreamed of one day unravelling the mysteries of the universe myself.
The absence of electric light during those power cuts created the dark skies we now desperately seek, right above our roof. It revealed stars in such multitudes that I could barely believe – and I still find them awe-inspiring, despite having earned a PhD in quantum gravity and worked on international space collaborations. My studies and research have only deepened my wonder at the universe, not diminished it.
As the quantum innovation sector lead for the UK's National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC), my role is to spearhead the adoption of quantum computing across various industries – from healthcare and finance to space – towards achieving “quantum readiness.”
This involves overseeing research and development for use-case discovery and stimulating quantum computing application development, bringing us closer to unlocking quantum advantage. Simultaneously, I work with diverse stakeholders – including government, academia, industry, regulators, investors, and policymakers – to cultivate a supportive ecosystem.
While quantum computing is still in its early stages, it's rapidly progressing from the lab to the marketplace, coinciding with the unexpectedly swift rise of powerful AI technology. Each of these is a disruptive force in its own right, but their combination promises outcomes that transcend the sum of their parts.
My journey from stargazing on a jute mat in India to helping shape quantum readiness for the UK has been fascinating and far from linear. Reflecting on this path, I realize it's not solely mine; at every turn, there has been a friend, family member, educator, or collaborator who recognized and nurtured my innate curiosity.
Inspired by my mother's and grandfather's passion for science, I immersed myself in sci-fi and fantasy books, which fueled my imagination with endless possibilities. In an era before ubiquitous internet access, I recall making frequent trips to internet cafes at age 7 or 8, eagerly reading and printing clippings from magazines and newspapers for a self-directed “research project" on black holes.
While my school in Bhubaneswar couldn't offer certain opportunities, such as NASA's ISS design competitions for students (which I read about with great jealousy), its remarkably gender-neutral and progressive environment nurtured curiosity in all of us.
With a balanced ratio of male and female physics teachers (providing us with diverse role models) and students, our educators took the time to help us truly grasp difficult concepts. They eschewed rote memorization in favour of granting us the freedom to figure things out ourselves. Their dedication extended to sending us to events like the National Children's Science Congress, where I first engaged with researchers and students from around the world.
As a scientist, I've heeded my teachers’ advice to follow my curiosity, no matter where it leads.
It wasn't rocket science, yet
In my research career so far, my curiosity has led me from pondering the nature of black holes to considering how quantum technologies and artificial intelligence can revolutionize industries from medicine to space exploration. That shift in scale, from the cosmological to the quantum and back, can sometimes feel intellectually dizzying, but it reinforces for me the real interconnectedness of science.
No matter what I’ve worked on – my PhD, gravitational waves work with a LIGO prototype, photonics research into non-invasive cancer detection, even a novel ecological method for estimating goat populations – I’ve been amazed by how the best ideas rarely fit neatly into one branch of science.
The most invigorating projects I’ve worked on involve people who approach things from vastly varying perspectives. The more disciplines I’ve explored, the more aware I’ve become that the boundaries between them are porous and sometimes illusory. The traditional borders between disciplines feel more porous than ever, and my career so far has been spent exploring those genre-hopping intersections where the unexpected magic usually happens.
During my master’s and PhD, I grappled with concepts of quantum gravity, the nature of spacetime, string theory, and other grand theoretical constructs. I became increasingly aware of how those fields are intertwined with emerging technologies. For example, quantum computing research is gaining important insights from quantum information-centric black hole research and vice versa. Incredibly, the same forces that govern particles near black holes could be harnessed to achieve unprecedented computing power.
Then it kind of was rocket science
Theoretical research into black holes and quantum phenomena has fueled my curiosity for years, but a part of me – the one that remembers gazing at stars during neighbourhood power outages – has always been drawn to space exploration. The stars and the infinite void between them have consistently beckoned, more as a theorist than an astronaut (though I'm not done boundary hopping yet!).
From 2019 to 2022, I led and worked with interdisciplinary teams working on satellite missions including ROKS, QEYSSat, and Volt. One project involved miniaturizing a large optical setup to fit into a CubeSat – a satellite the size of a cereal box – bringing me back to hands-on experimentation. This work required developing innovative optical and electronic components robust enough to withstand the harsh conditions of space, leading the design of palm-sized telescopes, writing code for image analysis, and conducting extensive thermal and vibration testing.
Other projects explored the security of joint space-ground systems, AI-powering QKD CubeSats to overcome issues like cloud cover, satellite-powered Earth observation for emergencies such as forest fires, and developing a concept for a solar weather observation and prediction CubeSat.
These missions demonstrated quantum key distribution (QKD) – a technique leveraging quantum mechanics to produce shared quantum-resistant secret keys for secure communication – which can be transmitted via satellite to enable a global secure network. This work is crucial as we enter the era of quantum computing, which threatens to easily break current encryption protocols protecting much of our online data.
These satellite projects, which blend theoretical and experimental physics with precision engineering and literal rocket fuel, simply cannot happen without the collaboration of people who approach problems from uniquely different angles.
Beyond rocket science
I'm now focused on two of the fastest-growing interdisciplinary fields in science: artificial intelligence and quantum computing. We're still grasping the individual disruptive potential of these technologies; their simultaneous emergence promises powerful outcomes, both anticipated and unexpected, that may exceed the sum of their parts.
In healthcare, quantum sensors enhanced by quantum machine learning models could enable early disease detection, while quantum computing could accelerate drug discovery through advanced simulations, bringing us closer to personalized medicine.
The finance sector is already seeing promise in quantum machine learning methods for improved fraud detection. In aerospace and energy, quantum computing can optimize complex network traffic, enhance fuel efficiency, streamline energy grids, develop superior batteries and renewable fuel storage solutions, and create novel materials for carbon capture, advancing our net-zero goals. For space exploration, quantum computing could revolutionize complex mission design and optimization, propelling us towards better space exploration.
However, numerous technical and strategic challenges must be addressed before we can realize practical quantum advantage. These include talent and skills development, as well as establishing necessary regulatory and policy frameworks to mitigate potential harms and promote responsible innovation.
Looking for stars, everywhere
As night falls across the globe, countless children are gazing skyward, asking their parents, siblings, or friends about the multitude of stars and their origins. We're all born with an innate curiosity, and I believe the truly fortunate among us are those who never truly "outgrow" this wonder.
Today, amid the parallel rise of AI and quantum computing, we need insatiably curious young minds who think unconventionally. I have strived to follow this spirit throughout my career, and now I consider it my responsibility to identify, support, and cultivate these innovative thinkers.
My love of science was kindled by stargazing. Now, while I continue to explore the celestial wonders above, I'm also searching for the emerging scientific luminaries here on Earth – those brilliant minds who need only an opportunity and encouragement to shine brightly.
Sonali Mohapatra is passionate about emerging technologies. As Quantum Innovation Sector Lead at the National Quantum Computing Centre in the UK, she works to foster quantum adoption across a range of sectors, including space, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, and financial services.
Note: The opinions expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not represent the views of the National Quantum Computing Centre.
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