Interview with Dr. Prineha Narang, Assistant Professor of Computational Materials Science at Harvard University & CTO at Aliro Technologies

April 12, 2022

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I am joined by Dr. Prineha Narang is an Assistant Professor of Computational Materials Science at the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University where she leads an interdisciplinary group working on topics at the vibrant intersection of computational science, condensed matter theory, quantum photonics, and quantum information science. Prior to joining the faculty, Dr. Narang came to Harvard as an Environmental Fellow at HUCE, and worked as a research scholar in condensed matter theory in the Department of Physics at MIT on new theoretical methods to describe interactions in quantum matter. She received an M.S. and Ph.D. in Applied Physics from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Dr. Narang’s work has been recognized by many awards and special designations, including the Mildred Dresselhaus Prize, Bessel Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, a Max Planck Sabbatical Award from the Max Planck Society, and the IUPAP Young Scientist Prize in Computational Physics all in 2021, an NSF CAREER Award in 2020, being named a Moore Inventor Fellow by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation for pioneering innovations in quantum science, CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar by the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, and a Top Innovator by MIT Tech Review (MIT TR35). In 2017, she was named by Forbes Magazine on their “30under30” list for her work in atom-by-atom quantum engineering, that is, designing materials at the smallest scale, using single atoms, to enable the leap to quantum technologies. Dr. Narang is also a part of DOE-led NQI Quantum Science Center and NSF-backed efforts, including the NSF ERC ‘Center for Quantum Networks’ in quantum network science, both announced in 2020. Dr. Narang is the founder and Chief Technology Officer of Aliro, a VC-backed US quantum network company. At Aliro, she has led efforts in quantum information science, spanning quantum algorithms for quantum computation as well as simulation and emulation directions in quantum network science. Further, she has advised IBM, Applied Materials and Northrop Grumman over the last years on building and expanding their quantum technology programs. Dr. Narang has a strong track record of contributions and service to the quantum science and engineering community. Alongside her research, she has developed an undergraduate programme in quantum engineering, starting with ES170 Quantum Engineering at Harvard University to address a critical gap in building the “quantum workforce”. So far, this course has been offered during the Spring semester every year since 2018 and has since been adopted as a template for introductory quantum engineering courses across the country. The success of this course allowed Dr. Narang to co-organize and contribute to a NSF and White House Office of Science and Technology Policy sponsored effort on how to create a quantum engineering curriculum with findings and recommendations reported in a peer-reviewed IEEE consensus publication and a concrete roadmap that can be tailored for various academic institutions. Outside of science, she is an avid triathlete and runner. Time spent outdoors is important to her and here’s a Faculty Spotlight highlighting how she spends time outside the lab and an article by the Moore Foundation on “Beyond the Lab”.