Wrapping Things Up

The guys I hang out with for lunch

I'm currently at work, putting the final touches on the report, and waiting for the simulation to churn out the last of the data I'd require to conclude the project, and hoping to be able to complete a decent report by thursday, so that I'd be able to take away something nice from this internship.

Guess it's a good time to review the things I've done this summer and at IHPC.

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Looking back at the past few months, I realise that I've gained tremendously in the following areas:

1) Simulation

Having no background in simulation, the experience of working with simulation programs and codes has vastly added to my knowledge in this area.

I now better understand what simulation entails. Learnt of:
- the existence of the range of methods employed to solve various simulation problems (i.e. Quantum Mechanics, Molecular Dynamics, and Finite Element Method), as well as
- the principles behind computer simulation (that the main challenge of performing simulation is modeling a situation in a way that yields accurate results yet minimizes the amount of calculations required).

Dr Liu Ping attempted to educate me on the Finite Element Method at the beginning of the internship. While the actual calculations still elude me, I now understand how structural simulation is approached – that an object is modeled by elements, and that the data defining the object is stored as an array of nodes and elements.

I was also very impressed by the program Dr Liu Ping gave me to work with. I never knew that the simulation of such a complex process can be done with just a few kilobytes of code – and there were no libraries used!

2) Workings of IHPC and Research Life

This internship is also my first encounter with research life. I was initially not used to the great amount of autonomy, but I gradually learnt to pursue the things that were on my mind each day, and to make use of the opportunities available to further my understanding on a range of topics.

I also gained an insight into how research collaboration is considered and initiated, when I sat through a meeting discussing such a prospect of collaboration. During the meeting, I had learnt of the limits of simulation and the challenges involved in simulating certain genre of problems like detonation. I now better appreciate the difficulties encountered in simulation work.

This internship also saw my first attempt at writing a research paper style report, an albeit short one.

3) Quantum Dot Production

When I begun looking around for internships, I was hoping to be involved in the area of quantum computing, as it is a field that puts to use some of the recently discovered physics phenomena. Though it was not exactly quantum computing, working on quantum dots at a computing research institute seemed an exciting prospect too.

My personal goal after I accepted the internship offer was to understand the problems associated with producing the kind of quantum dots which would be needed in the implementation of a quantum computer.

I have learnt that the main challenge with fabricating quantum dots is finding an effective manufacturing method, of which Heteroepitaxy was a promising technique. Had also found that quantum dots were already being produced using other techniques, but the techniques available is still quite laborious.

It looks like a matter of time and research effort before an effective method of producing quantum dot array is found, and I reckon it will not be the factor that poses much hindrance to the development of quantum computers.


Other Accomplishments

During this time, I have also achieved a number of things outside the jurisdiction of IHPC.

I had implemented the website of a society I was webmaster of, read up on some of the topics I would be doing in next year’s course, took 5 students for tuition, and made contact with the Quantum Information Group at NUS.

Each of these has been a source of much fulfillment, and I have to confess that it helped me tide over the periods of boredom whenever I got stuck in the project.

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Ok, the above might sound a little politically correct, and impersonal. I had meant to address it to my superiors, but I'm still questioning the wisdom of doing that. But that's about a wrap of what I've done this summer. Felt that i had quite an enriching time...