Udbhav Ojha

A Physics PhD helped Udbhav nurture long-held curiosity in modelling and simulation, skills he now capitalises on in his career in financial technology.

Mathematics and the sciences were my strong subjects at school. I remember one day watching a programme on Discovery Channel where this guy was trying to do a difficult skiing manoeuvre and they stopped the frame in order to calculate whether it was possible for him to come out of the move successfully. I remember thinking, “Wow! Can you create those kinds of models?” Career decisions can also hinge on influential teachers, and a professor in my postgraduate Physics programme showed me aspects of statistical mechanics and nuclear and particle physics using modelling, simulation, and object-oriented programming. The information and communication technology aspects were exciting.

I came to Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington to complete a PhD. With a PhD, you need to be driven by the love of your topic over scholarship earnings or career ambitions. You need to be really curious and be able to delve really deep into the subject. I was offered a number of internships, but the MacDiarmid Institute in Wellington had the research opportunity I was looking for in condensed matter and materials physics, with a strong computational aspect. One of the many areas the results of my research can be used is to create clean-burning fuels from separating hydrogen and oxygen atoms of water.

I discovered my first employer at the campus careers expo and got talking to them. I realised that I had the skills they were looking for and was encouraged to apply for their graduate programme. It was a change from the research I was doing in terms of pace and being able to see first-hand the experiences of our users. It was a fintech company that specialised in designing wealth management wrap platforms, writing complex financial business logic, and creating web applications to support the clients (major financial institutions) to manage their investments.

As well as advanced modelling, simulation, and coding skills, I can also bring a different way of thinking to a project team. This includes working closely with quality assurance analysts, business analysts and product owners, and other members of the project team to produce the best software. Having done some teaching, I also bring the ability to facilitate learning in the teams I work with and break open our thinking to go outside boundaries just as we were required to in physics research.

At present, I work as a senior developer at Adminis, a Wellington-based fintech company that specialises in wealth management and fund accounting and management. There I contribute to the design and implementation of our product, the overarching technology, and building our team. Furthermore, the Postgraduate Certificate in Business (Professional) at the University, supported by the MacDiarmid Institute’s business scholarship (2020-21 round), provided me with the opportunity to further develop my skills in finance and investment management.