Class of 2025: Akshay Bansal becomes first Ph.D. graduate in quantum computing

Name: Akshay Bansal

College: College of Engineering

Degree: Ph.D. in computer science with specialization in quantum cryptography and quantum machine learning

Hometown: Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

Plans after graduation: Joining a venture-funded startup in Bengaluru, India, that aims to accelerate the commercial deployment of quantum computing.

Favorite Hokie memory: Not exactly a Hokie memory, but I’m certainly going to miss the long walks from my home to Torgersen Hall via the Huckleberry Trail. 

Akshay Bansal didn’t set out to pursue a career in quantum computing. When he came into the Ph.D. program in computer science at Virginia Tech, he thought he would focus his research on machine learning. But his first-semester class in quantum computing with Assistant Professor Jamie Sikora opened up a new path for Bansal.

“I realized that the content vision theory that Jamie does has the two components which I love the most: probability theory and numerical optimization,” Bansal said. “After a few weeks, I asked Jamie if he was looking for students, and then I shifted from machine learning to his lab.”

Numerical optimization provides a mathematical framework for efficiently solving a wide range of problems. Probability theory offers tools for understanding the likelihood of random events. Both play a crucial role in machine learning and other areas of computer science, including the emerging field of quantum computing.

Bansal’s dissertation, titled “Adversarial two-party quantum interactions in cryptography and machine learning,” deals with two sides of the same coin: one to develop quantum protocols to secure communication networks and the other to develop algorithms to extract information through quantum interactions. 

“We are mostly working from the theoretical side to prove mathematically why some algorithms or protocols may or may not work,” Bansal said. “Once we have error correction and fault-tolerant quantum computation in place, one can apply these algorithms to achieve an improved security for some of the cryptographic tasks in hand. That's the hope.”

For his groundbreaking work designing protocols for cryptography and machine learning, the computer science department recognized Bansal with the 2025 Best Ph.D. Research Award.

Theories for a new future

Quantum computers offer a new landscape for computing with huge advantages for a range of uses. One day they’re expected to surpass the capabilities of today’s most powerful supercomputers by orders of magnitude. Researchers are busy trying to build such devices and to find the next generation of apps.

“Right now we’re in the early stages, like the vacuum tubes of the 1950s and when computer bugs were literally insects that got into the machinery and caused problems,” Sikora said. “Today’s quantum hardware is analogous to those early classical computers, but we’re getting better at keeping actual bugs out.”

Once the hardware catches up with the algorithms, quantum computers have the potential to revolutionize how we tackle some of the world’s most complex problems.

“Like artificial intelligence, quantum technology offers a completely new approach,” Sikora said. “Its possible applications are wide-ranging, from enabling ultra-secure communication systems to accelerating the discovery of new materials, medicines, fertilizers, and even more efficient batteries.”

Mathematical researchers like Bansal and Sikora are working now on algorithms and theories that, when better quantum computers do become available, will integrate seamlessly with the technology.

Leading across a new frontier

For the past several years, the Department of Computer Science has been investing in quantum science. Sikora, a mathematician, was its first quantum faculty hire in 2020.

Less than five years later, it employs four quantum faculty, including Steven Flammia, who directs the Center for Quantum Architecture and Software Development at Virginia Tech in the greater D.C. area. Assistant professors Sumeet Khatri and Atul Mantri both work in Blacksburg with Sikora.

Computer science has joined a transdisciplinary university portfolio in quantum sciences and engineering, with two quantum research centers and several labs focusing on various aspects of quantum research. It is also one of the first U.S. institutions to offer an undergraduate minor in quantum.

Computer science is helping build that new frontier, Sikora said, by offering several quantum courses, holding summer camps in collaboration with the Department of Physics to teach high schoolers quantum computing, and currently enrolling seven graduate students in the program. 

That makes Bansal’s dissertation defense set for May 27 — the final step for a doctoral degree — not only a personal milestone for him, but also a leap forward for computer science and Virginia Tech.