The 2018 ACT Scientist of the Year hopes the award can help inspire more women into science and help community interest in science.
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Australian National University physicist Dr Rose Ahlefeldt said she didn't see many women in science growing, making it a long time for her to choose it as a career.
"If you are interested in a science career ... it helps to see someone who looks like you," Dr Ahlefeldt said.
She said she wanted to help young women think about how they could make a career in science.
Dr Ahlefeldt's research into quantum memory for quantum computers is the reason for her award.
Computers store data in binary - ones and zeros. Quantum computing holds out the promise of storing much more detail data in less space, but the problem is the system is highly unstable and the data degrades quickly.
Dr Ahlefeldt is looking into creating what she calls a quantum hard drive, using crystals to store quantum memory for a long time.
"We've got materials with storage times of six hours, which is a record," Dr Ahlefeldt said.
Quantum information starts as light, requiring researches to transfer from the light into the atoms in the crystal.
Her research allowed her to store a large amount of high density data on a crystal while still remaining in a quantum state.
"That's what we're trying to preserve, that 'quantumness'," Dr Ahlefeldt said.
There had been previous successes storing quantum data on a material for a long time, but the difference with Dr Ahlefeldt's was the volume of data and the size of the material.
"It's really looking at different crystals and understanding how they behave, understanding how they interact with light," Dr Ahlefeldt said.
"I focus particularly on the higher density storage."
She said the award, which includes $30,000 prize money, was a bit of a surprise but exciting.
Dr Ahlefeldt said her work would go towards helping to build a quantum computer.
"There are a variety of systems around at the moment that do some aspect of quantum computing. In the next five years, 10 years we're going to get prototype systems," Dr Ahlefeldt said.
"It's really a much different type of computing. There are things that quantum computers can do really well."
Quantum computing can help solve extremely complicated, "impossible" mathematics problems.
Computer encryption uses mathematics to encrypt data, but quantum computers could break that encryption or strengthen it, Dr Ahlefeldt said.
Quantum computers could also help enhance artificial intelligence or do computer modelling.
"You can look at a whole bunch of chemical structures to build new drugs," Dr Ahlefeldt said.
