My name is Hannah Amelie Earley. I am CTO & Cofounder of a startup. and an affiliate lecturer at the University of Cambridge. I work on forms of unconventional computing, with special interests in reversible computing and molecular computing. My research centers on the physics and computer science of abstract forms of these systems, whilst my future directions will expand into their practical implementation. My PhD was completed under the supervision of Gos Micklem and based in Cambridge.
Molecular programming allows for the programming of the structure and behavior of matter at the molecular level, even to the point of encoding arbitrary computation. Current approaches have achieved impressive results, but can we go further? Can we manipulate arbitrary complex macromolecular structures, and can we exploit reversibility while we do so to approach the efficiency and modularity of biological systems? This project introduces an abstract model of molecular programming, Reversible Bond Logic (RBL), which aims to do just this. We show example systems such as a common fuel supply that can be used for all RBL machines, similar to ATP, a biased walker that doesn't use up its track, and a number of computational programs demonstrating control structures such as conditional branching, looping, and subroutines.
My thesis comprised the following two projects, ‘engines of parsimony’ and ‘the ℵ calculus’.
preprint — published — doi:10.17863/cam.79111
This project focuses on the maximum rate of computation that can be achieved by any physical computer within a given region of space and provided a given supply of power and rate of heat dissipation. In part i, we find general scaling laws independent of whether the computers are quantum or classical, and also find how these depend on whether the computers are reversible or irreversible. We also extend to the cases of very small and very large† computers. In parts ii and iii, we consider the consequences of this performance maximisation on cooperative/concurrent reversible computers from the perspectives of communication and resource sharing respectively.
Inspired by the recommendation of reversible computing obtained in engines of parsimony, we developed a model of computation—the ℵ calculus—and an associated programming language—alethe—for declarative reversible computation. Being declarative, it is amenable to composition and high level programming. Other select features include automatic parallelisation, and explicit but intuitive separation of effects from 'pure' code. What we feel is most novel about ℵ is that it models the reversibility of not just the transformation of data, but also the program state itself. This makes it a good model for building physical reversible computers. In particular it is well suited for molecular implementations, and supports interaction and communication between non-local computational entities.
Actively developing a website for a new startup company. The website will feature provision of content and ecommerce.
Developed a website for a veterinary startup. The website was built around wordpress and provided a CMS for blogging and news updates as well as a community forum.
Participated in the 2015 Cambridge-JIC iGEM Team under Jim Haseloff. This year saw the introduction of the Hardware Track in which we developed an open-source programmable 3D-printable microscope. Worked to develop abstraction layers to integrate microscope into a variety of hardware contexts, including an XY translation stage, and to facilitate automation. Also focused on stitching and geometry algorithms to implement the backend of a seamless panning interface. Headed Arduino workshop during outreach day to teach sixth form students C++. The team won a gold medal and received four nominations.
Provided freelance programming help to algorithmic cryptocurrency trading enthusiasts. This mainly involved writing interfaces to the MtGox exchange API in various languages, including Java, Objective-C and VBA.NET. One client, as a result of my Objective-C work, offered a job in New York as a mobile app developer.
Designed a company website with a consistent layout and a PHP backend. Was also tasked with maintenance and updates. Subsequently rebuilt the backend on top of a custom content management system with a bespoke WYSIWYG editor, and trained key staff in its use.
Designed and produced anniversary invitations to a high quality using Adobe Photoshop. Had regular meetings with the client to ensure the design matched the specifications.
Worked with the head of Detector Physics in the Charged Coupled Device section. Mainly assisted in the calibration of an infrared weather camera by designing a custom IR LED apparatus to provide reference points which were then used to create a projection map using a computational model written in IDL. Also prepared some space-based optical lenses.
~ available on request ~