A&M-Victoria graduate student lands quantum AI internship
Texas A&M University-Victoria graduate student Shadmun Shahed is preparing to take his passion for quantum computing and artificial intelligence to one of the nation’s top research institutions this summer.
Shahed, a master’s student in computer science, has been selected for a summer internship at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, located in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The highly competitive, in-person internship will place him on a research team working at the forefront of quantum AI, a field that blends quantum computing principles with modern AI techniques to tackle complex, real-world problems.
“Shadmun’s selection for a Summer 2026 internship at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is a tremendous achievement and a proud milestone for A&M Victoria,” said Hardik Gohel, director of the A&M-Victoria Applied AI Research Laboratory. “Over the years, our strong collaborations with the U.S. Department of Energy research community have helped A&M-Victoria students secure internships and employment opportunities at multiple national laboratories. It reflects the strength of our Data Science and AI programs and the growing impact of our Applied AI Research Lab. Shadmun has been conducting Quantum AI research with our team since Fall 2025. We are incredibly proud of his accomplishment and look forward to seeing him bring back new knowledge and experiences to inspire fellow A&M-Victoria students.”
In early May, Shahed was notified he had been selected via email and soon after received his official offer letter from the lab on May 4, confirming his placement. He will fly to California at the beginning of June, with the internship scheduled to run from June 8 to Aug. 14.
“It was a lot of joy, actually, I was super overjoyed when I got the news,” Shahed said. “Now, I want to go out there and prove myself and represent A&M-Victoria the best I can.”
A Houston native, in addition to pursuing his master’s degree, he is also conducting quantum AI research under the guidance of Gohel as part of his graduate capstone project at A&M-Victoria. He previously completed his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science at the University of Houston in 2024.
Shahed’s route to the Berkeley internship began with a recommendation from Gohel, who knew of his interest in quantum computing and his long-standing admiration for the work being done at the national lab.
He submitted his materials late last year, then updated his application as his capstone work, a project as part of his graduate studies, progressed. The project, developed with his teammates, centers on quantum data encoding using IBM’s existing quantum methods, giving him hands-on experience with the same kinds of ideas he will explore at the internship.
At the summer internship, he will focus on quantum machine learning and the development of a research engine for quantum data encoding. He will contribute to both the software engineering and the research aspects of the project to help ensure the system that encodes classical data into quantum form functions efficiently and accurately, Shahed said.
The work blends core software engineering skills with quantum concepts, he explained. Additionally, he will also assist with documenting the platform’s performance, refine how data is encoded for quantum processing and support the broader effort to make quantum AI more practical and scalable.
“With quantum computing, instead of having just zeros and ones, you can have a superposition of zero and one at the same time,” Shahed said. “If it’s accurate, it can cut the cost immensely because you don’t have to go through millions and millions of lines of data. You can go through just one sweep and still do a lot of processing.”
Throughout his academic journey, Shahed has been motivated by a deep curiosity and a desire to share what he learns with others, he said. Looking ahead, he hopes to become a leader in technology, not just in title, but in impact.
He draws inspiration from how technology has transformed daily life within a single generation, noting how his parents once saw simple telephones as revolutionary. Today, tools like advanced AI systems can seem equally magical, Shahed said.
Shahed is grateful for all the support he has received as he worked toward his goals. In particular, he cites his parents, who are immigrants from Bangladesh and whose expectations and constant encouragement have helped him stay focused and maintain his high academic standards. He also acknowledges his wife, who is studying computer engineering in Bangladesh, for her ongoing support and motivation, especially during long-distance stretches when they stay connected across time zones. He also is grateful to the faculty members at A&M-Victoria, especially Gohel for his mentorship and pushing him toward quantum computing.
“Without these people, I would be nowhere near the opportunities that I’ve reached,” Shahed said. “I hope I can make A&M-Victoria proud. This is just the beginning.”
Texas A&M University-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region since 1973 in Victoria, Texas, offers courses leading to more than 50 academic programs in the colleges of Business, Education & Health Professions, Liberal Arts & Social Sciences, and Natural & Applied Science. A&M-Victoria provides face-to-face classes at its Victoria campus, as well as online classes that students can take from anywhere. The university supports the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Opportunities for All initiative to increase awareness about state colleges and universities and the important role they have in providing a high-quality and accessible education to an increasingly diverse student population, as well as contributing to regional and state economic development.