Quantum Leap

This Year’s Australian Of The Year Michelle Simmons Talks To The CEO Magazine About Quantum Computing, Discovering Her Inner Leader And The Importance Of Creativity In Scientific Work.

- Daniel Herborn

I came to Australia because I believed it would allow me to realise my dreams,” Michelle Simmons told the audience when she accepted the Australian of the Year Award in early 2018. Even for someone who dreams big, it is unlikely such honours were on her mind when she was awarded a QEII Fellowship and, in 1999, moved from the UK to further an already flourishing career.

Michelle grew up in London and completed a PhD at Durham University before relocating. The QEII Fellowship meant she had a number of options for her next chapter, but the egalitarian culture of Australia and its willingness to give younger scientists significant responsibility appealed. She became one of the founding members of the Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology at the University of New South Wales. The cutting-edge centre progressed so successfully that, in 2006, she became one of the youngest ever people to be elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science.