01
Choose your path and own it.
Follow the direction you believe in, and take responsibility for the outcomes. Learn to savour that tension in your stomach.
“I’m not sorry for going my own way, even when it meant choosing the hard path.”
Alexandre Cooper-Roy
Alexandre is the founder of UpScale Quantum Solutions and a Senior Technical Lead at the University of Waterloo’s Institute for Quantum Computing. An MIT-trained physicist (PhD, Nuclear Science), he is building the hardware infrastructure required to make quantum computers work at scale. His work focuses on developing the modular "interconnects" that allow quantum processors to communicate—solving the critical technical bottleneck that currently keeps quantum computing confined to the lab.
02
Trust your judgment.
Make decisions before anything is proven, stay close to people who get it, and keep going when things start falling apart.
03
Devote yourself to things that are real and difficult.
There is little pride in choosing the easy path.
One thing to take away
I keep choosing the path I want to live over the one I am supposed to want. Looking back, it may seem like it all makes sense, but it did not feel that way at the time. It also hides the dead ends, the sacrifices, and the pain. Even so, I am not sorry for going my own way.
