Dr Si-Hui Tan had already developed a keen interest in mathematics and science in secondary school. From Raffles Girls’ School she went on to pursue advanced mathematics and a degree in physics, and eventually earned herself a post-doctorate degree in physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Today, the 40-year-old is the chief science officer at a local start-up, Horizon Quantum Computing. The company aims to make quantum computing more accessible to software developers.