Last month (March 2023) was the twentieth anniversary of me moving from classical into quantum computing "full time". I'll always remember exactly when this was, because I was working for Nokia at the time, and had already decided that I wanted to move from engineering back into research and in particular to pursue quantum computing. I was out on parental leave when our second daughter was born, when it was announced that the unit I was part of was being shut down; some people moved into other internal positions, others were let go. I had been trying to get Nokia Research to take me on and let me move to Tokyo to be a Ph.D. student at Keio, but we couldn't work it out, so I agreed to take the layoff buyout. We parted quite amicably, I am still close with a few of the people from that era.
So.
Between the Network Alchemy stock options from the Nokia acquisition, plus the buyout, plus some money we made from selling our house in Half Moon Bay, I had enough to pay for a Ph.D. and eventually put a down payment on our house here in Kamakura. So I didn't worry about money, initially (I should have been worrying much more about it for thirty years, but that's a different story).
We took care of our kids, sold the house, did a month-long cross-country road trip, did various things, and moved to Japan in early August 2003. I attended my first quantum computing conference, the fourth EQIS (now known as AQIS) at the end of August or early September before officially becoming a Ph.D. student in late September.
I came to Keio to be Kohei Itoh's Ph.D. student, but I was afraid I couldn't get into the applied physics Ph.D. program, so I applied in CS and wound up with Fumio Teraoka, a respected networking researcher, as my official advisor. (Tera-san once said to me, roughly, "You got Paul Mockapetris and Bob Hinden to write you recommendation letters?!? Geez...") Kohei was my unofficial advisor, and Jun Murai an occasional mentor and later unofficially on my Ph.D. committee. Kohei quickly introduced me to Kae Nemoto, who became an important collaborator and also joined my Ph.D. committee. Kohei is now president of Keio, making him, to the best of my knowledge, the first quantum computing person to run a major university anywhere in the world.
I did my thesis defense June 13, 2006, if I remember right, then the final exam a few weeks later and graduated that September, 36 months after starting. Not too bad.
It was, and remains, quite the adventure. I am glad I made this choice. Thanks to all who have supported me or chosen to run alongside me on this quixotic quest.
