Sense of awe led alum to physics
Ben Chapman (PhDPhys'17)
Ben Chapman (PhDPhys’17) never had a master plan to be a physicist, but now he’s a Principal Quantum Hardware Manager at Microsoft.
Chapman says what he loves most about physics is “the sense of awe that comes from connecting with length, time, and energy scales that are far from the meters, seconds, and joules of the human experience.”
He majored in math and physics at Dartmouth College because he enjoyed the coursework. Following that sense of awe, after college he got a job in a physics lab and his boss encouraged him to apply to PhD programs. He recalls it wasn’t straightforward –because he didn’t take a conventional path to graduate school.
A world-class program in Boulder
“I chose CU because it’s in Boulder and the program is world-class. He added “it was a great decision.”
Chapman thrived at CU and made a lasting impact.
He completed his thesis on superconducting quantum circuits with Professor and JILA Fellow Konrad Lehnert, which he added was an incredible opportunity. “I feel so incredibly fortunate for the chance to have worked with Konrad,” Chapman said.
Chapman was also one of the original organizers of CU-Prime, a student-led organization aimed at building community and supporting undergraduates in physics. The group was formed in 2013 and is still flourishing, offering biweekly research talks, a 1-credit hour class for first-year undergraduate students, and a mentorship program.
Building a quantum computer
After finishing his PhD, Chapman spent four years as a postdoc at Yale with Professor Rob Schoelkopf before joining Microsoft.
In his current role, he manages a small team who develop the readout hardware for Microsoft’s quantum computer. He likens it to working as a postdoc; driving multiple projects, keeping the team motivated and excited, and helping them see how their efforts are advancing longer-term goals.
With many major tech companies racing to build a quantum computer, the job is high stakes, and Chapman has his sights set on the ultimate goal. “I want to build a rocket ship that goes to the moon – not a literal one – but the quantum computing version of that.”
Trusting the process
Professor and JILA Fellow Konrad Lehnert andBen Chapman
at his thesis defense.
Chapman said one of his biggest career lessons so far has been to trust the process of ‘doing’ physics. “Even difficult problems can yield answers with persistence. It took me a while to learn that,” he said. At early stages of his career, he wondered “how will I have an idea that no one else has had before?”
“That feeling remained for many years through college and the beginning of graduate school,” he added. “But as you keep doing it, it gets easier and things that used to seem impossible become an everyday thing. You get better at plying the craft.”
He recalled a class he took at CU from Professor Noah Finkelstein on Teaching and Learning Physics, which introduced him to concepts in education like impostor syndrome and growth mindset. “Being able to have conversations around these topics and learn the vocabulary was very useful to me.”
Throughout his education and so far into his career, Chapman has leaned in to being comfortable with uncertainty. Through each phase, he’s trusting the process and holding on to the sense of awe that first drew him in.