BBQ Lab

Our team at BBQLab has travelled all over the world this summer to interesting conferences and events, many tied to the 100th anniversary of quantum mechanics! Here is a recap of all the BBQLab-attended events over these past few months:

Dylan, Suraj, and Mehul traveled all the way to LA for CLEO US where they presented our work on time-bin measurements and quantum dot emitters. Both of our members gave wonderful talks to the attendees about the cutting-edge research that we do at BBQLab. Mehul also had the honour of receiving his Optica fellowship on stage in front of many old friends and colleagues!

Will and Mariana went to Benasque, Spain, near beautiful Barcelona, for the Quantum Information Workshop that involved interesting discussions and ideas exchanged with peers from the theoretical world. Mariana initiated discussions about multi-photon entanglement distribution, while Will unsuccessfully looked around for the nearest skate park available!

Miguel spent a week in Paris, where he attended the Mathematical Aspects of Quantum Information MAQI Summer School. In this school, he attended a series of lectures covering foundational aspects of Quantum Information such as simulation, estimation, communications and more!

Suraj later accompanied Miguel to Munich for CLEO Europe, where he presented our work on large-scale entanglement networks and single-photon emitters. The massive venue presented itself as an opportunity for getting involved in science and industry, as networking with people from all over the world. Not too far away, Mehul had the privilege of attending the joint Max Planck group retreat of the Stiller, Fattahi, Del’Haye, and Kunst groups at the Ringberg Castle in Tegernsee, Bavaria. Incredibly beautiful with a fascinating history, Ringberg has inspired Mehul to hunt for suitable castles in Scotland to host our next group retreat 🙂

In the most Heisenberg-fashion, Mehul also attended a workshop at Helgoland for the celebration of 100 years of quantum amongst multiple known personalities of the quantum/physics world. It was a stunning conference to say the least, with topics ranging from quantum foundations, quantum gravity, to (you guessed it) high-dimensional quantum information!

Last but not least, Mehul delivered a keynote talk at the BeyondQubit workshop on quantum information processing with qudits, held in beautiful Trento in the Italian alps. Mehul was surprised (and pleased) to be one of only three photonics researchers there, with the majority of attendees working in trapped ions, superconducting qudits, and quantum information theory. The qudit community is growing fast, and we can only imagine what the future holds!

We’re absolutely thrilled to share that our own Professor Mehul Malik has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE), Scotland’s national academy of science and letters!

This is a huge honour that recognises individuals who have made exceptional contributions to their fields. Mehul will join around 1,800 RSE Fellows who are leading experts in the sciences, arts, business, professions, and the third and public sectors, with links to Scotland. Past Fellows of the RSE include theoretical physicist Peter Higgs, James Clerk Maxwell, who is most famous for his theory of electromagnetism, American scientist Benjamin Franklin, and now, Mehul. No pressure!

Congratulations, Mehul! We’re so excited to celebrate this milestone with you.

Yes, these last few weeks we’ve welcomed two new postdocs and a visiting PhD student to the group. Already introduced to all 4 seasons of Scotland, a table full (really full) of delicious foods, and of course the beginning of lots more new science!

Sugandh joins us from Meerut, India and completed her PhD recently from IIT Madras. Bohnishikha grew up in Chennai, India, and recently received her PhD from the University of Warsaw in Poland. Kiran is currently a PhD student in the group of Prof Sushil Mujumdar at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai, India.

Check out our people page for their backgrounds and journeys before BBQLab!

We’re proud to celebrate Dr Suraj Goel, who recently presented his research at the House of Commons of the United Kingdom as a finalist in the Physics category of STEM for BRITAIN 2025.

Held on the Portcullis UK Parliament House, this prestigious annual competition highlights the outstanding work of early-career researchers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Organised by the All-Party Parliamentary and Scientific Committee, it gives members of Parliament a valuable opportunity to engage with the next generation of UK researchers.

Dr Goel’s participation is a fantastic achievement and a reflection of the exciting, high-impact research being carried out within our community. Congratulations again, Suraj!

A rare sight of Suraj in a suit

To learn more about the competition, visit: www.stemforbritain.org.uk

Let’s give a warm (Scottish) summer welcome to Eli Mayes, our new visiting student! Originally from Rome, Georgia, U.S.A., he is currently an undergraduate at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York. He is in the final years of his Physics degree and is a fanatic of art, pursuing a Bachelor’s degree with a minor in Studio Art.

During his time at Colgate, he has worked on the utilization of Poincaré beams for free-space communications and gravitational lensing. In his free time, he enjoys cooking, playing video games, and Magic: The Gathering.

Welcome Eli!