International Researchers Working at NTT R&D

Japan has been a big part of my life for many years. In Columbia, I grew up watching NHK educational programs at home. During my postgraduate studies in Germany, I got to know many Japanese scientists as well as the Japanese woman I later married. Working in Japan became one of my dreams.

After completing my postdoctoral fellow program, I had to choose a career in academia or business. Luckily, I attended a conference in Singapore where W. J. Munro, my current group leader, presented the research being conducted at NTT Basic Research Laboratories. I realized I definitely wanted to work in Japan at NTT.

Another reason I chose NTT was the enormous freedom to do fundamental research here. NTT hires the top scientists for our labs and supports us to develop technologies using the best equipment and resources. The labs are in Atsugi, a beautiful mountainous area that reminds me of my hometown in Colombia.

Before joining NTT, I worried about communicating with my colleagues, but everyone is fluent in English. To navigate some internal systems that are in Japanese, our group leader and his team have created English manuals for the non-Japanese members, who are steadily increasing both in number and diversity in terms of nationality and professional background. They also support visa applications and help new members to open bank accounts and get settled in Japan.

I joined NTT in 2017 as a research scientist focused on exploring new physics in quantum simulators, such as arrays of superconducting qubits. When I became a permanent employee in 2019, my scope of responsibility expanded considerably, from active collaboration with experimental groups overseas to performing quantum superconducting simulations and proposing new ideas to promote and improve diversity in our 13 R&D laboratories, where I learned from exceptional colleagues. After being promoted to a senior position in 2021, I'm involved in collaborations with nanomechanics, quantum optical physics, and quantum solid state and optical state control research groups, which is a fascinating experience for me.

I'm currently focused on various research activities, such as performing cutting edge research on quantum simulation with noisy intermediate scale quantum (NISQ) devices, working on a new direction of research where I use tools of statistical and condensed matter physics to propose quantum algorithms that can be implemented in arrays of superconducting qubit, exploring theoretically the dynamics of atomic ensembles embedded in nanomechanical systems, and using edge excitations in fractional quantum Hall systems for quantum information processing and the coherent XY machine.

If we can use quantum computers to solve difficult problems in quantum chemistry and material science, I believe our research will have a strong impact on society. In both the public and private sector, there is intense interest in advancing the quantum technologies required to develop more reliable quantum computers and NISQ devices that can perform more accurate quantum simulations.

I hope to further explore new possibilities in quantum simulation to analyze quantum chemistry problems and to work on quantum algorithms using my experience in statistical physics and nonequilibrium systems. I also want to support and train the next generation of scientists and instill in them the importance of ethics at work and their responsibility as researchers to make our world a better and safer place.

Finally, I would like to tell young research scientists to dream big, to challenge established theories, and explore new ideas that may lead to groundbreaking discoveries or game-changing innovations. I welcome these fresh minds from around the world to join us at NTT, where they will find the freedom necessary to dedicate themselves to diverse fields of fundamental research.