I have been fortunate enough to pursue my education in physics in a number of different countries. Though originally from Australia, I largely grew up in Geneva, Switzerland. From there I moved to Durham, UK, for my undergraduate studies in Physics and Chemistry. While studying at Durham, I undertook internships in the Dipolar Quantum Gases Lab at the University of Innsbruck, Austria, and the Light-Matter Interactions Unit at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Japan.
After completing my undergraduate degree I moved to the US to pursue a PhD at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. There I worked in the Ni Lab on controlling and entangling ultracold NaCs molecules in optical tweezers. After obtaining my PhD I jumped coasts to Los Angeles, California, to join the Endres Lab at Caltech as a postdoc, where I am working on quantum science with Strontium atom arrays.
Education
PhD in Physics, Harvard University
Cambridge, MA, USA, 2018-2024
MSci in Chemistry and Physics, Class I (Honours), Durham University
Durham, UK, 2013-2017
Thesis: Modelling Photostop: Production and Trapping of Cold Molecules
Research Experience
David and Ellen Lee Postdoctoral Scholar, California Institute of Technology, USA, 2024-Present
Supervisor: Prof. Manuel Endres
Project: Preparing arrays of ultracold Strontium atoms in optical tweezers for high fidelity quantum computation, simulation and metrology.
Doctoral Researcher in the Ni Lab, Harvard University, USA, 2018–2024
Supervisor: Prof. Kang-Kuen Ni
Project: Engineering coherent dipole-dipole interactions between single NaCs molecules in optical tweezers to generate long-range entanglement.
Intern in Light-Matter Interactions Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST), Japan, 2017
Supervisor: Prof. Síle Nic Chormaic
Project: Conducted both theoretical and experimental projects related to excitation of Rydberg atoms using evanescent fields of optical nanofibers.
Intern in Ferlaino Research Group, University of Innsbruck, Austria, 2016
Supervisor: Prof. Francesca Ferlaino
Project: Developed a deep learning-based tool for the analysis of site-resolved images of Erbium atoms in an optical lattice.
Undergraduate Researcher, Durham University, UK, 2016
Supervisor: Dr. Eckart Wrede
Project: Modelling controlled photodissociation of molecules from a molecular beam in a magnetic trap.
Intern at CERN, Geneva, Switzerland, 2014
Supervisor: Dr. Raymond Veness
Project: Completed internal reports on the potential inclusion and modification of a magnetic linear actuator and a wire scanner.
Lewis R. B. Picard 