The Australian Institute of Physics (WA Branch), supported by STAWA’s Physics Committee and Quantum Girls, is conducting a breakfast event for motivated Year 8, 9 or 10 girls who demonstrate aptitude and interest in science. The session will introduce quantum sciences to the girls and inspire and motivate them to consider going on to study high level Mathematics and Physics in Year 11 and 12.

Audience: Up to six students per school with an accompanying female science teacher of other staff member.

Cost: This event is FREE but registration is essential. Please note that registration closes on 8 August. 

Talk title: Wonders of the Quantum World: From Stars to Computers

Presenter: Dr Danielle Holmes is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications, in the Faculty of Engineering at UNSW Sydney. She makes ‘qubits’ using individual atoms in silicon chips. These qubits are the building blocks of quantum computers, new technology that will revolutionise humanity’s problem-solving abilities.

Brief outline: Tiny particles, such as atoms and electrons, behave in unexpected ways and require entirely different laws of physics – quantum physics – to explain their behaviour. Despite the miniscule scale of the quantum world, it has huge and fascinating consequences on the world around us, such as explaining why stars shine and birds don’t get lost. In this talk, I will take you on a journey to visit these surprising wonders of the quantum world. I will then reveal how scientists like me are now harnessing quantum physics to develop revolutionary computers that will solve problems that are currently out of reach, such as designing new medicines to fight disease and developing new materials to combat climate change. I love quantum physics for its power to explain the world around us and to shape its future. Come along and find out how I became a quantum physicist and what they actually do in a typical day.

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