Ramis Movassagh ’04
From an early age did you have a plan for your career that you followed to success, or did you make the most of opportunities as they arose, acquiring insight, skills, and clarity along the way? If the latter, you are in good company. More people have career trajectories that are likely to take unexpected twists and turns, than those whose paths follow a straight line. Similarly, the academic and professional journey of Ramis Movassagh’04, engineering physics, is a story of opportunistic success achieved through perseverance, academic ability, and a positive attitude, facilitated by a B.S. in engineering physics.
Upon entering Cornell, Movassagh paradoxically avoided physics even though he always loved theoretical physics. Although he was concerned that a degree in theoretical physics would not lead to many job prospects, he eventually found employment in mathematical physics, a field even more abstract and rigorous than theoretical physics. “It’s funny,” he said. “In theoretical physics, you don’t have to prove what you do, as long as it confirms existing experiments. But in mathematical physics, having a good heuristic argument is not enough, you also must rigorously prove your ideas. And this is especially important in quantum computing, a still-developing field, which demands firm theoretical foundations before experimental confirmation is possible.”
