Rising Senior · Washington, D.C.

Utsav Shah

Computer Scientist

I build at the intersection of computation and the physical world — from graph-based machine learning and quantum-grade materials simulation to space-robotics hardware and full-stack systems. Currently a CS student (4.0 GPA) at Howard University, visiting MIT Aerospace, and researching at SLAC / Stanford.

Aspiring scientist. My long-term goal is a PhD and a research career advancing quantum computing, AI/ML, and aerospace systems.

Builder & engineer. Open to full-time Software & Machine Learning Engineer roles — shipping reliable, scalable, well-tested systems.

View My Work Download Résumé
Email · LinkedIn · GitHub
Portrait of Utsav Shah
4.0 GPA
SLAC · Stanford
MIT Aero
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0GPA / 4.0
0Research Roles
0Dean's List Semesters
0Students TA'd
01 — About

Scientist by ambition, engineer by craft.

I'm a rising senior at Howard University pursuing a B.S. in Computer Science with a minor in Mathematics, and a visiting student in Aerospace Engineering at MIT. I'm fascinated by the frontier where computer science meets physics and engineering.

My research spans graph-based machine learning, quantum-grade semiconductor materials, and space-robotics hardware for the Artemis program. This summer I'm an LCLS research intern at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (Stanford). I also teach — as the sole TA for Computer Organization & Architecture and a top-rated peer tutor in mathematics.

Off the clock, you'll find me on the basketball court, over a chessboard, traveling, or buried in a good book.

Quantum Computing AI / ML Cybersecurity Space Robotics Propulsion Systems
02 — Research Experience

Work at the edge of science.

Six research and teaching appointments across national labs and three universities.

Jun 2026 – Aug 2026 Featured

LCLS Summer Research Intern

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory · Stanford University — Menlo Park, CA

Selected for the Linac Coherent Light Source program at the U.S. Department of Energy's SLAC lab — contributing to research at one of the world's most advanced X-ray free-electron laser facilities.

National LabPhoton ScienceStanford
Aug 2025 – Present

AI/ML Undergraduate Research Assistant

Dept. of Computer Science, Howard University — Washington, D.C.

  • Developing a graph-based ML framework for dynamic, hyper-localized ad placement using KNNs and vector-embedding pipelines to model spatiotemporal vehicle–business proximity.
  • Implementing selective machine unlearning for privacy-preserving graph-embedding updates — removing nodes/edges without full retraining.
  • Designed real-time ad-targeting algorithms over distance, demographic, and temporal context, improving relevance while cutting compute overhead.
Graph MLVector EmbeddingsMachine UnlearningGeospatial
Jun 2024 – Jul 2024

Undergraduate Summer Research Intern

Dept. of Aerospace Engineering, University of Maryland — College Park, MD

  • Engineered a 9,500-rpm electromechanical cleaning system for lunar EVA-suit dust mitigation, integrating rotational dynamics, electromagnetic actuation, and thermal design for regolith removal.
  • Built a wxPython control interface for the NASA-funded LuSTR project (Artemis) with real-time temperature/current monitoring and live-plotting via NumPy & Pandas.
  • Ran torque-load, stress-distribution, and failure-mode analyses; co-authored the Hartzell Lab final technical report.
NASA ArtemisCAD / Fusion 360wxPythonControls
Jan 2024 – May 2024

Nanomaterials Physics Undergraduate Research Assistant

Dept. of Physics & Astronomy, Howard University — Washington, D.C.

  • Modeled piezoelectric properties of ZnS and ZnO quantum dots using SIESTA and Quantum ESPRESSO, evaluating them as next-gen semiconductors for quantum computing architectures.
  • Ran first-principles (DFT) simulations of band structures, charge distributions, and polarization using Materials Project data — identifying trends relevant to qubit stability and coherence.
  • Compared DFT predictions against lab measurements and authored technical summaries.
DFTQuantum ESPRESSOSIESTAQuantum Computing
03 — Engineering Projects

Things I've shipped.

Full-stack platforms, ML/embedded systems, and hardware-software integration.

🍽️ Full-Stack · PWA

Restaurant Management System

Full-featured platform with digital menus, real-time order tracking, table reservations, and inventory control — deployed across 19 restaurants.

  • ↓ 60% manual order-handling time via real-time kitchen coordination
  • 24/7 digital reservations at 100% uptime; +87% retention
  • Admin analytics dashboard boosted reporting efficiency 40%
LaravelLivewireAlpine.jsPHPPWACloudflare
📊 Full-Stack · CRM

Customer Relationship Management

CRM platform for small businesses with client lifecycle management, lead tracking, and workflow automation.

  • +50% client follow-up rate via sales-pipeline tracking
  • ↓ 35% onboarding time with automated task scheduling
  • +30% sales-forecasting accuracy with real-time analytics
PHPCodeIgniterMySQLjQueryChart.jsNginx
💬 Backend · OOP

Social Media Messenger

Backend for a social-media messaging app built in Java for an Object-Oriented Programming course — mentored by Prof. George Fowler Rice (50+ yrs at NASA & Lockheed Martin).

  • 1,000+ lines of production-style Java
  • Regression testing & JUnit test coverage
JavaOOPJUnit
💹 Full-Stack · Finance

Mutual Fund Calculator

Full-stack web app built for the Goldman Sachs Engineering Emerging Leaders Summit and presented to qualified engineers at the Goldman Sachs Dallas office.

  • Angular frontend · Spring Boot backend
  • Jasmine (FE) + JUnit (BE) testing
AngularSpring BootJavaJasmine
🛰️ Embedded · Hardware

LuSTR Motor Controller GUI

Motor-controller GUI for the NASA-funded LuSTR lunar project — precise run/stop/modify control of a motor spinning at 4,800 rpm.

  • 1,500+ lines; PySerial hardware comms protocol
  • Arduino motor-control logic with live monitoring
wxPythonPySerialArduinoNumPy

More on the way

Research code, ML experiments, and side projects live on my GitHub.

Visit GitHub →
04 — Technical Skills

The toolkit.

Languages

PythonJavaC / C++SQLJavaScriptTypeScript

ML & Data Science

PyTorchTensorFlowKerasScikit-LearnOpenCVHuggingFaceNumPyPandas

Web & Cloud

ReactNext.jsAngularNode.jsAWSKubernetesVercelREST APIs

Scientific Computing

Quantum ESPRESSOSIESTADFTLabVIEWFusion 360

Tools & Platforms

GitGitHubGitLabLinux / UnixFigmaArduinoRaspberry Pi

Focus Areas

Quantum ComputingAI / MLCybersecuritySpace RoboticsPropulsion
05 — Teaching & Publications

Sharing the knowledge.

Teaching Assistant

Dept. of EECS, Howard University · Aug 2025 – Present

  • Sole TA for Computer Organization & Architecture (108 students) — grading assignments, exams, and hardware problem sets.
  • Led weekly office hours for Engineering Mathematics and Signals & Systems (Diff. Eq., Fourier/Laplace, pipeline hazards).
  • Built rubrics & automated checks that improved performance and cut regrade requests.

Peer Tutor — Mathematics

Dept. of Mathematics, Howard University · Aug 2025 – Present

  • Tutored 50+ undergraduates (4.8/5.0 rating) across Math & CS courses.
  • Designed custom practice sets and learning strategies for at-risk students.
  • Drove measurable gains in exam performance across multiple cohorts.
📄
Publication

Shah, U., Mugisha, D. Design and Development of a Dedicated Appliance to Clean the Synthetic Gecko Skin-Based Lint Roller. Technical Report, Hartzell Lab, University of Maryland, 2024.

06 — Awards & Beyond

Recognition & life off-screen.

$76K

Howard University Achievers Scholarship — merit-based, across four years

$10K

LNSEC Ford Philanthropy Scholarship — merit-based

6×

Dean's List — every semester to date

TBP

Tau Beta Pi Honor Society · NSBE · Engineers Without Borders

When I'm not building

🏀 Regional-level basketball (Biratnagar Basketball Academy) ♟️ District-level chess ✈️ Traveling 📚 Reading 🤝 UN World Food Programme volunteer
07 — Contact

Let's build something — or research it.

I'm seeking PhD opportunities and am open to full-time Software Engineer and Machine Learning Engineer roles. Reach out — I'd love to hear from you.

utsavshah944@gmail.com Download Résumé
LinkedIn ↗ GitHub ↗ (202) 569-0857