Why I became a Qiskit Advocate, and why you should, too
Hello again, Qiskitters!
I’m Vicente Pina Canelles, a physicist turned quantum software engineer, and I’m a Qiskit user. I have been asked many times what differentiates Qiskit from other quantum computing frameworks or languages. In my opinion, it’s the large community that has been built around it, plus everything that stems from that community, that makes Qiskit different. For me, it’s way easier to work with the support that such a network of people can give you. Also, the framework improves quickly thanks to all of the new tools and applications that are constantly being written, in part, by the users themselves.
How I became a Qiskit Advocate
My first contact with the Qiskit community was at an event that IBM organized in Switzerland: Qiskit Camp Europe 2019. The heart of the event was a 24-hour hackathon. Despite its length, you could feel an overall sense of team spirit and collaboration, and the creativity flowed freely. The result was a ton of different projects, all contributing a myriad solutions to extremely different problems.
While we were there, IBMers informed us that the recruiting process for a novel program would be starting soon — the Qiskit Advocate program. They told us that, at first, the main goal of the program would be to promote collaboration between members of the community, and in the future, it would offer various other benefits. Little did I know of all of the great opportunities that would come out of it!
What being a Qiskit Advocate has meant to me
When I started planning this article, I thought about dividing this section into two parts: what I have done for the program, and what the program has done for me. However, I soon realized that I couldn’t separate them. This is very easy to understand if you keep in mind that Qiskit is, at its very core, an open-source project. The philosophy behind open-source is that everyone works on it because everyone benefits from it, and vice versa. Both things go hand in hand.
As a specific example of this, one thing we consistently do as Qiskit Advocates is give live demos of our recent work for the other Advocates. This way, we can regularly teach and learn from each other with this open-source, mutual benefit philosophy in mind. Recently, I did a demo on one of my favorite topics in quantum information: quantum walks, the quantum counterpart of classical random walks. While this demo could be regarded as something that “I did for the program”, I got in return a lot of positive feedback and insights that shed light on some of the more complicated issues with my project. And, maybe more importantly, it also became the seed for some future collaborations with other Advocates, using my original demo as a starting point.
Another highlight for me has been the events I have attended. Participating in events as an Advocate means volunteering and supporting the staff so that everything goes as smoothly as possible. Usually, we fulfill one of two roles: either judging Qiskitters’ projects, or coaching teams on their projects. But these events are also an amazing opportunity to have fun, learn new things, and meet new people.
The first event I went to as an Advocate was Qiskit Camp Asia 2019, as a judge. Even though I didn’t get my hands into the code until the time of deliberation, I still learned so much about quantum computing and about the event itself from behind the scenes.
Next, I had the chance to go to the Quantum Hackathon in Bilbao, Spain, to offer support as a coach. This was my first time as a team leader in these kinds of events. One of the teams that I coached got second place in their category, which was so cool — it felt like we had won. They were all computer scientists with no knowledge of quantum computing when the event started, but after, they took their learning process and converted it into an interactive experience to teach others.
Last, but definitely not least, I went to Qiskit Camp Africa 2019 straight from Bilbao. It was a packed week! Again, my role was to be a coach, and I enjoyed it just as much as I did in Bilbao. Not only could I see my international Qiskit friends again, but the team that I coached worked extremely hard during 24 frenetic hours — and they got an honorable mention for educational projects!
What being a Qiskit Advocate could mean to you!
In short, the Qiskit Advocate program feels to me like the very embodiment of the community that Qiskit has been building from the start. All Advocates share a passion for advancing the Qiskit project and maintaining its open-source spirit, and we actively work toward that goal with constant help from the staff.
I’m not here to sell anything to you. I don’t get paid for this — I just wanted to share my experience with everyone! I sincerely think that if you find quantum computing exciting, and if you want to be a part of what the field has to come, then the Qiskit Advocate program is an excellent place to find a tight-knit support group for your collaborative projects and new experiences. If this is what you are looking for, joining it would be a fantastic first step!
Interested in becoming a Qiskit Advocate in 2020? Let us know here, and we’ll be sure to update you when the next round of submissions open up!
