Kristi Beck

Physicist/Livermore Center for Quantum Science Director
PLS Principal Associate Director’s Office

May 16, 2024

What do you like about your job and/or about working at the Lab?

I'm involved in a few projects that bring together small teams of people with different backgrounds. It's awesome to work on teams where I bring subject matter expertise in one area­­—quantum computing or quantum sensing, usually—and am interfacing with others who bring really deep knowledge in other areas, like making really low noise microwave signals or simulating how light interacts with plasmas.

What is your educational/career background?

I joined LLNL in 2020. Prior to LLNL, I was a senior physicist at the startup quantum computing company IonQ, which spun out of the group I did my postdoctoral work with at the University of Maryland. I received my Ph.D. from MIT in 2016, my M.Phil. from the University of Cambridge in 2010 and my B.S. in Physics and B.A. in Mathematics (with a minor in music) from the University of Rochester in 2019.

What inspired you to go into science/your field of work?

My parents are both engineers and encouraged me to explore science and engineering. When I kept asking how things worked, they encouraged me to study physics. While the questions that keep me busy most days straddle the boundary between physics and engineering, I stayed in physics because I love and am challenged by the research environment of tabletop physics. I find it immensely satisfying to have the command of an entire lab space and understand how each sub system impacts other ones, from the seemingly mundane water cooling method to lasers and RF test equipment to the physics questions I'm ultimately trying to answer or elucidate.

What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?

Have patience.

What are your hobbies/what do you do in your free time?

Spending time with my family, board games, reading, various types of needlework (although not much of this recently!)

How many years have you worked at the Lab?

2.5

Where are you from?

I grew up in New Jersey, USA.

Do you support disciplines or programs outside PLS?

  • Global Security
  • Weapons and Complex Integration (WCI)
  • National Ignition Facility & Photon Science (NIF&PS)

Learn more about Kristi:
Biography