Maverick Millican

PhD student
EQUS
University of Sydney
Road-tripping around QLD (2023), Brisbane to Sydney (2022)

What do you do?

I take specially designed pieces of dust, shoot them with lasers, and use cameras to understand their energy. After some fancy math and a lot of science, we will use all this to build the world’s strongest and fastest computer.

How did you get to where you are today?

With a base in ion-trap atomic physics research in Seattle (University of Washington), I came to the University of Sydney to pursue my PhD in physics. I joined the Quantum Control Laboratory in January 2022 to work on trapped-ion quantum computing and simulation and I’m very proud to be a part of the EQUS community of researchers as well.

What’s the best thing about your role?

The best thing about my current role as a PhD student, especially in Australia, is the community of amazing minds around me. Not only is cutting-edge research coming out of both the EQUS and Sydney Quantum Academy communities, but both groups do some of the best work I’ve seen at pushing researchers to come together, socialise, share ideas and collaborate.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

I do just about anything outdoors! Hiking and camping are my absolute favourites, I used to love spending weekends up in the Cascade Mountains near Seattle. But I also can’t complain if the weather is nice and an easy day of surfing and sunbathing finds itself in front of me! Get me outside and I’ll be smiling.

Fun fact:

I used to be an internationally acclaimed jump-roper (rope-skipper), and my team name was Hot Dog USA!