Activity Report from a Visiting Researcher from École Polytechnique
10 August 2012From April to August 2012, Mr. Mourad Beji, a graduate student of École Polytechnique in France, a Keio University partner institution, conducted his internship at SFC with research advice from Associate Professor Rodney Van Meter, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies.
Please enjoy this report on Mourad’s experiences during his four month internship.
Japan - as a country, and as a culture - has always attracted me. As we all know about the Japanese level of technology, there was no question for me as to where to go for my research internship in computer science. The university I have attended for the last three years, École Polytechnique, and Keio University have strong links and partnerships, and I found through my teachers the occasion to visit Keio SFC to study a new field of computer science: quantum computers.
Joining the AQUA team (Advancing Quantum Architecture) was a good opportunity for me to take a peek at the future of computer science. With a background in physics and mathematics before moving to computer science, I did my specialization in networks and security. As I wanted to keep close to these themes, I worked on quantum repeater networks for my internship. This is a technology that will allow us to create networks of quantum computers in the distant future. This same technology should also be used for quantum key inscription and other quantum security mechanisms in the near future. My job was to enhance an existing simulator for such networks, and implement some quantum repeater protocols.
These four months of internship were also very rich in terms of personal and cultural discoveries. With Keio SFC being located close to Tokyo and Yokohama, I was able to spend days and weeks getting lost in these metro-jungles. Needless to say, the country of all wonders has much to offer, as long as you make the effort to plunge into the Japanese life.
Mourad BejiÉcole Polytechnique
(This information is released by the International Affairs Office)