Harry Smith joined SemiQon just over a month ago as part of the design team, bringing a combination of theoretical and experimental physics that has him contributing across multiple teams from day one. Harry joined SemiQon's design team after a diverse path that took him from the stages of professional musicals as a child, through theoretical physics at Lancaster University, into a PhD at University College London on semiconducting nanodevices, and eventually to a conversation at the London Quantum Showcase that redirected his trajectory toward Finland.

It wasn't a straightforward journey. "I've always been quite good at sciences,"Harry explains, "but when I was younger I also had quite a focus into the arts. I did quite a few professional stage shows, musicals. And then also for a period of time I wanted to be a chef, so I did a lot of culinary classes and worked in kitchens."

The performing arts world would call what Harry had a triple threat: someone who can sing, act, and dance. His uncle, a professional chef, eventually talked him out of the kitchen. And the stage, gave way to something that felt like a more stable long-term bet: a commitment to physics and mathematics.

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From theory to experiment and back again

Harry's academic background has been diverse, which turns out to be exactly what makes him such a valuable addition to the team. At Lancaster, studying Natural Sciences, he built a foundation in quantum mechanics, quantum information processing, and Lie algebras, the abstract mathematical structures that underpin much of theoretical quantum physics. His master's work took him into Majorana quasi-particles. His PhD at UCL focused on spintronics in low-dimensional gallium arsenide structures, exploring how electric fields affect electron spin polarization in 1D and 2D systems.

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A quantum company at the right moment

For Harry, joining a semiconductor-focused quantum company was a deliberate choice. "I do personally believe that the best method is going to be through the semiconductor route," he says. His particular excitement is around what happens as transistors keep getting smaller. At some point they stop behaving like classical objects and start behaving quantum mechanically. To Harry, that's not necessarily a problem. "Is that actually a limitation, or is it something which we could then exploit to make more energy efficient devices, things which are even smaller?" For Harry, quantum engineering is a whole world we are only just scratching the surface on, and his focus is firmly on the potential uses and how to get there.

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From PhD lab to industry

What drew Harry to SemiQon was the shift from fundamental research to something tangible. His PhD work was genuinely useful to the field, but several degrees removed from anything you could hold in your hand. “It's very difficult to see how you get from that to affecting the world. Something which you can use and be like, I built that and that is useful.”

At SemiQon, he's also expanding his technical range. “I worked in low frequency DC domain work, whereas at SemiQon we're more looking at high-frequency RF lines. Learning more about those and seeing how it's used for these sensitive electrical measurements in a lab is something I am delighted to be able to learn.”

Jumping in feet first

Harry came to SemiQon through an open application, just a conversation that started at the London Quantum Showcase and a skill set that turned out to be exactly what the team here needed. He relocated from London to Finland just over a month ago. "I find myself pretty place agnostic," he says. "I can settle in and keep myself to myself pretty well."

That said, Finland is making its mark. He's been to the sauna and tasted Lonkero (Finnish drink made with gin and grapefruit) already. An ice swim (or perhaps in March just a cold swim) and a sauna trip with SemiQon colleagues is being planned.

The company culture has surprised him in the best way. Coming from a PhD environment with nights in the lab until the last train home, the balance at SemiQon has been a genuine shift. "It does feel like there is a lot more respect for that separation of work life here. We are working this many hours, and you're not expected to work more than that." He also notes something that stood out about the company culture: "Being able to see the executives in the C-suite fairly frequently, having conversations and afterwork drinks with them. And it's not really like anybody is competing with anybody, we're all here to support each other."

"It's been very enjoyable," he says. "There's always stuff for me to be doing, which is always nice. And I do feel like even in this past month I have learned a lot of things which will be useful in life."

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Outside the lab

When he's not working, Harry cooks, or he would, if his current kitchen were bigger. He plays video games, board games, and card games, and has worked as a judge at competitive card game events. He goes to the opera, musicals, and ballet whenever he can, and Helsinki's cultural calendar is something he's looking to explore. Somewhere in the back of a case, waiting for a bigger apartment, are two trombones. They once took him on jazz tours through Europe and, aged nine, into the Symphony Hall in Birmingham where he helped break the world record for most trombone players performing simultaneously.

He has a favorite quote, from the writer Terry Pratchett, in which a character is told he should get more sleep and responds: "There is plenty of time to sleep when you're dead." The rejoinder, Harry is careful to note, is even better: "Yes, but nobody wakes you up with a cup of tea in the morning."

“It's a good reminder to make the most of what you have and to do as much as you can," he says, "but also to take moments of rest and realize that they do come with benefits as well. Namely a good cup of tea."

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Qurious to join a team of Qurious minds? Information about our open positions and how to apply is available on our careers page.

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