Aaila Ali

Aaila Ali is an undergraduate student studying Physics at DePaul University and Computer Engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology with an interest in quantum computing and a strong desire to give back to the scientific community. She joined the DePaul University SPS chapter her freshman year, served as an officer, and then served as president of the chapter the following year. Aaila currently the associate zone councilor of the Society of Physics Students (SPS) for Zone 9. Aaila works to organize events to create a nurturing community to help physics students of all backgrounds advance their professional development and academic success. She successfully turned the previously quiet SPS chapter into a welcoming community and resource for all students and helped co-found the Society for Women and Gender Minorities in Physics (SWiP) at DePaul University. Over the course of her undergraduate career, she has interned in cyber security, worked as a student researcher on a Sloan Digital Sky Survey Faculty and Student Team (SDSS FAST) at DePaul University, and participated in a NSF funded REU at the University of Utah working in spintronics. Aaila is currently interning with IBM research in the quantum applications in quantum chemistry and science group. She has a passion for research and plans to pursue graduate studies in the future.