CV (list)

EDUCATION

Since 2020

MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), USA

Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Research in Machine Learning and Quantum Computing algorithms

2018 - 2020

EPFL (École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne), Switzerland

Master of Science: Physics & Data Science
Master thesis at Harvard University (02/2020 – 08/2020)
- Thesis: Near Term Quantum Algorithms for Optimization Problems
EPFL Excellence Fellowship (best master’s students in the physics department)
GPA 5.5/6.0 (top ≈ 5%)
Specialization: Quantum Computing & Machine Learning
Associations and Societies:
- Founder and President of the Quantum Computing Association
- Member of the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (Studienstiftung)

2014 - 2017

University of Zagreb, Croatia

Undergraduate studies (incomplete – dropped out): Physics
Final GPA: 4.9/5.0
Elected as Student Representative in 2017
Associations and Societies:
- Founder of the Debate Society (politics, philosophy, economy, ...)
- Member of the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (Studienstiftung)

2010 - 2014

XV. High school (MIOC), Zagreb, Croatia

Focus on Physics, Math and CS
International Physics Olympiads (IPhO): Kazakhstan 2014, Denmark 2013 and Estonia 2012: 3x Bronze Medal
Award for the best high school graduate in Croatia in 2014 (out of ~40 000 students)

WORK EXPERIENCE

Since 2020

Assist-o, Switzerland & USA (Co-Founder & Board Member)

Assist-o is a Swiss-American company for remote assistance. We offer remote support to individuals and companies in development, marketing, design, executive assistance, IT, and more.
Our offices are based in Switzerland (Assist-o AG) and the United States (Assist-o LLC), with a hub in Zagreb, Croatia.
Check out our website: assist-o.com

2019

National University of Singapore (Visiting Researcher)

Research in Quantum Optimization Algorithms
Work at the Centre for Quantum Technologies in the group of Dr. Patrick Rebentrost and Prof. Miklos Santha

2019 – 2020

EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland (Research Assistant)

Implementation of optimization and logic synthesis algorithms for Qiskit-Terra (an open source Python library for Quantum Computers maintained by IBM)
Work in the group of Prof. Giovanni de Micheli and Dr. Mathias Soeken

2018

University of California San Diego, USA (Visiting Researcher)

2 publications (ICCAD 2019, ISLPED 2019) & 4 further submitted papers
Machine learning research: Development of fast and energy efficient algorithms for specialized computer architecture
Optimization of algorithms for Natural Language and Human Activity Recognition

2017 - 2018

EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland + Technical University Vienna, Austria (Internship)

Solid State physics research: discovering and analyzing new materials
Work on Quantum Cryptography algorithms

2016

D. E. Shaw & Co., London, UK & New York City, USA

Monte Carlo simulations of complex derivatives in Python
Modeling changes in the foreign exchange and bond market

2015

Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Denmark (Research Internship)

1 publication (Climate of the past) & 1 further publication in progress
Data analysis/data mining in Climate science

2014 - 2017

University of Zagreb, Croatia (Student assistant, Physics competitions)

Organization of the preparations for the International Physics Olympiad
2 of my students won bronze medals at the International Physics Olympiad and received full scholarships for their studies at University of Cambridge
Teaching Physics I & II: Classical Mechanics, Electromagnetism (~80 students)

2014

Mully Children’s Family Orphanage, Kenya (Volunteer work)

Taught computer programming, mathematics and physics to 125 high school students
Organized programming courses for students to give them a chance to see what programming is and motivate them to pursue a career in it, as it requires few resources

Until 2015

Music performance and recording of CDs

Participated as a singer on 3 CD recordings for humanitarian purposes
Participated in 15 humanitarian musicals and concerts as an actor, singer and a technician

COMPETITIONS & AWARDS

2019

1st place at the IBM Qiskit Camp Europe Hackathon 2019

Qiskit – PyTorch integration for Machine Learning
Project available on GitHub

2018 – 2020

EPFL Excellence fellowship

Awarded to the best master’s students of each department (less than 1%)

2017 – 2020

Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes (German Academic Scholarship Foundation)

Awarded to the best ~0.5% students in/from Germany
The selection is based on excellent academic records, social engagements, rhetorical and social skills, academic and sport competitions, and other personal accomplishments.