skip to main content
Department of Physics and Astronomy
University of Mississippi

Daniel Pompa – Alumnus Spotlight

Manager, QuantinuumDaniel Pompa

Home Town: Southaven, MS
BS in Physics, minors in Computer Science, Engineering, and Computer Science (2019)
LinkedIn

 

 “My interests in physics didn’t fully develop until my first year of college. Initially, I planned to pursue mechanical engineering, but after taking the introductory physics classes, coupled with my own independent readings, I fell in love with physics. I realized that when approaching problems, it wasn’t just finding an answer that captivated me, but the question itself.”

Pompa, a transfer student from Northwest Mississippi Community College, has been a physics teaching assistant, and a Bass Fellow at the National Center for Physical Acoustics where he researched synthetic jets in ported subwoofers. He was awarded the department’s Price Scholarship, and researched quantum machine learning in condensed matter physics with Dr. Kevin Beach.

After graduation he was an Electrical Engineer then Senior Data Scientist at Raytheon Technologies.  Then he moved to Quantinuum, a quantum computing research company, where he was Business Development Manager and now a Partner Manager.  He is also completing a Master’s degree in Data Engineering from Southern Methodist University.

Why study physics at UM?
“As a student you can gain access to top-rate facilities like the National Center for Physical Acoustics, explore the cosmos in Kennon Observatory, or maybe work on experimental particle physics at Fermi Lab near Chicago. The opportunities are here, and the faculty will help you reach your goals. This faculty support, coupled with the small class sizes, really creates a sense of belonging and security which is perhaps the most vital component of the overall college experience.”