Resume / CV

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Click here to download my CV in PDF format, or read the web version below.

  1. Experience
  2. Education
  3. Awards
  4. Publications
  5. Technical Reports and White Papers
  6. Talks
  7. Posters
  8. Skills

Experience

2021–Present Graduate Research Assistant
Michigan State University — East Lansing, MI
  • Created the Julia software package QuantumGateDesign.jl, for optimal control of quantum systems using smooth pulses. Finds ideal pulses quickly using high-order time steps and second-order optimization.
  • Derived discrete adjoint equations for high-order Hermite methods applied to Schrödinger's equation, enabling fast and exact gradient computations for quantum optimal control.
  • Investigated using Filon methods to efficiently integrate high-frequency systems of ODEs, e.g. Schrödinger's equation for superconducting qubits.
  • Researched using neural ODEs to learn computationally cheap Magnus expansion solutions to Schrödinger's equation for accelerated simulation of quantum systems under external control.
2023, 2025 Long Workshop Participant
Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics, University of California, Los Angeles — Los Angeles, CA
  • Collaborated with a diverse group of mathematicians, physicists, and computer scientists from academia and industry on problems in quantum computing (2023) and non-commutative optimal transport (2025).
  • Organized a working group exploring optimal-transport-inspired objective functions for quantum control.
2024 Project Manager, G-RIPS
Advanced Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku Univeristy — Sendai, Japan
  • Led a group of five graduate students from the United States and Japan in developing novel classical parameter-setting strategies for the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA).
  • Cooperated with researchers from Mitsubishi Electric, who sponsored this project.
2023 Visiting Scholar
Los Alamos National Laboratory — Los Alamos, NM
  • Studied physical and numerical considerations for the simulation of plasmas.
  • Accelerated simulation of runaway electrons in Tokamak fusion reactors using CUDA-enabled GPUs.
  • Visualized electron behavior using Poincaré plots to identify computationally challenging regions of the reactor.
2022 Computing Student Intern
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory — Livermore, CA
  • Used compositional techniques to create high-order integration methods from low-order, symmetric ones in the quantum control package Juqbox.jl.
  • Demonstrated by numerical experiments that high-order methods accurately simulate the physics of relevant 2-qubit systems at one-tenth the computational cost of second-order Störmer-Verlet.
  • Achieved similar results using the implicit midpoint rule, a more stable alternative, as the base method.
2020–2021 Post-Baccalaureate Research Associate
Michigan State University — East Lansing, MI
  • Member of the FEX-Hub project for development of hardware to manage the flow of trigger data from the ATLAS detector of the Large Hadron Collider.
  • Wrote object-oriented Python scripts to conduct Integrated Bit Error Ratio Tests (IBERT) of multi-gigabit transceivers on FPGA and generate eye diagrams to analyze accuracy when transmitting at high bandwidths.
  • Added new features to FPGA firmware using VHDL in Vivado Design Suite.
2019 Summer Research Associate
CERN — Geneva, Switzerland
  • Analyzed C firmware of a microcontroller for ATCA compliance as part of upgrades to the Level 1 Calorimeter Trigger of the Large Hadron Collider.
2016–2020 Undergraduate Research Associate
Michigan State University — East Lansing, MI
  • Created an interactive Python GUI to run and display perfSONAR network measurement tests, manage Ethernet switch stress tests, and generate automated reports.
  • Organized and configured Linux test nodes for use in network stress tests.

Education

2021–Present
Ph.D. in Computational Mathematics, Science, & Engineering
Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, GPA: 3.94/4.0
2016–2020
Dual Bachelor of Science in Advanced Mathematics and Physics
Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, GPA: 3.97/4.0
Graduated with High Honors, Member of Honors College.

Awards

2022–2027
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship ($159,000)
2021
Michigan State University Rasmussen Fellowship Award ($5,000)
2019
McCartney Endowed Educational Enrichment Fund ($500)
2018
Lawrence W. Hantel Endowed Fellowship Fund ($2,300)
2018
Paul and Wilma Dressel Endowed Scholarship for Mathematics ($1,250)

Publications

2026 Spencer Lee, Daniel Appelö. High-order Hermite optimization: Fast and exact gradient computation in open-loop quantum optimal control using a discrete adjoint approach. Journal of Computational Physics, 552, 114697. [link]

Technical Reports and White Papers

2025 Non-commutative Optimal Transport. Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics (IPAM), UCLA. White paper. [link]
2024 Rie Fujii, Shin-ichiro Kakuta, Phillip Kerger, Nadav Kohen, Spencer Lee, Kanon Sakurai. G-RIPS Mitsubishi-B Project: Final Report. Tohoku University Advanced Institute for Materials Research (AIMR). Technical Report. [link]
2024 Mathematical and Computational Challenges in Quantum Computing. Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics (IPAM), UCLA. White paper. [link]
2022 Spencer Lee, Stefanie Guenther, N. Anders Petersson. Compositional Methods for Schrödinger's Equation with Application to Optimal Control. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). Technical Report. [link]
2018 Dan Edmunds, Yuri Ermoline, Brian Ferguson, Wade Fisher, Philippe Laurens, Spencer Lee, Pawel Plucinski. ATLAS Level-1 Calorimeter Trigger Upgrade, FEX System Switch Module (FEX Hub) Prototype. Michigan State University. Technical Specification.
2018 Dan Edmunds, Yuri Ermoline, Brian Ferguson, Wade Fisher, Philippe Laurens, Spencer Lee, Pawel Plucinski. ATLAS Level-1 Calorimeter Trigger Update, HUB Firmware Specification. Michigan State University. Technical Specification.

Talks

2025 HOHO - High-Order Hermite Optimization for Quantum Optimal Control. Talk at CMSE 10th Anniversary Workshop & 5th Data Science Student Conference. Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan.
2025 Building Blocks of Quantum Computing: QuantumGateDesign.jl - Quantum Optimal Control Tutorial. Talk at Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) Annual Meeting 2025. Montreal, Quebec.
2025 High-Order Hermite Optimization for Quantum Gate Design. Talk at Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) Annual Meeting 2025. Montreal, Quebec.
2025 Quantum Optimal Control: How It's Done and Why You Should Use My Software. Talk at Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics (IPAM) CQC2023 Reunion. Lake Arrowhead, California.
2025 Quantum Optimal Control, Barren Plateaus, and Wasserstein Distances. Talk at Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics (IPAM) NOT2025 Culminating Retreat. Lake Arrowhead, California.
2024 Classical Parameter-Setting Strategies for the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA). Talk at Graduate-level Research in Industrial Projects for Students (GRIPS) Final Presentation, Tohoku University Advanced Institute for Materials Research (AIMR). Sendai, Japan.
2024 Designing Quantum Gates Using High-Order Hermite Methods. Talk at Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) Annual Meeting 2024. Online.
2024 Fast, High-Order Solvers for Quantum Optimal Control. Talk at Quantum Information and Computation (QuIC) Seminar, Michigan State University. East Lansing, Michigan.
2023 Classically-Simulated Quantum Optimal Control Methods for Designing Gates using Continuous Control Functions. Talk at Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics (IPAM) CQC2023 Student Seminar Series. IPAM, Los Angeles, California.
2023 Implicit Filon Methods for Highly Oscillating Problems, Gate Design for Controlled Qubits. Talk at American Mathematical Society (AMS) 2023 Spring Sectional. University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.
2022 Implicit Filon Methods for Highly Oscillating Problems, Gate Design for Controlled Qubits. Talk at Waves 2022, ENSTA-Paris. Palaiseau, France.

Posters

2025 QuantumGateDesign.jl: High-Order Methods, Fast Gate Design. Poster at International conference on Quantum Simulation and Quantum Walks (QSQW) 2025. Naples, Italy.
2024 QuantumGateDesign.jl: Higher-Order Methods for Faster Gate Design. Poster at Kernel Methods in Uncertainty Quantification and Experimental Design workshop, Institute for Mathematical and Statistical Innovation. Chicago, Illinois.
2023 Filon Time Integration for Gate Design. Poster at Accelerated Research in Quantum Computing (ARQC) All-hands Meeting, Berkeley National Lab. Berkeley, California.
2022 Numerical Methods for Highly Oscillatory Problems in Quantum Computing: Quantum State Evolution Simulated using Implicit Filon Quadrature. Poster at Midwest Numerical Analysis Day 2022, University of Michigan. Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Skills

Programming
Julia, Python, C, C++, CUDA, Git, LaTeX, Claude Code, Linux OS, VHDL, Matlab, Mathematica
Interests
Quantum Optimal Control, Simulating Physics, Scientific Software, Visualizing Information, Applied Research, Pedagogy, Computer Graphics
Soft Skills
Leadership, Independent Learning, Communication, Presentation, Teamwork
CC BY-SA 4.0 Spencer Lee. Last modified: March 09, 2026. Website built with Franklin.jl and the Julia programming language.