Omar Shehab

Omar Shehab

Last seen: 11 months ago

Omar Shehab is a theoretical quantum computer scientist whose work bridges quantum algorithms, complexity theory, and programming languages for quantum computers. He earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in 2016, following undergraduate studies at Shahjalal University of Science & Technology. He has held research and teaching positions at the University of Southern California’s Information Sciences Institute, the U.S. Army Research Lab, and UMBC, where he taught theoretical computer science and quantum computing. At IonQ, Shehab focuses on developing methods to effectively harness trapped-ion quantum computers, with particular interest in hybrid quantum–classical architectures and identifying problems where quantum speedups can be realized. Currently, at IBM Thomas J Watson Research Center, Shehab is working on average-case hardness of quantum algorithms and quantum complexity theory. He has published extensively, contributed to patent applications, and delivered invited talks. His research has been funded by NASA, Department of Energy, and DARPA.

Member since Aug 27, 2025

So, Should the Education Minister be Fired?

Bangladesh needs emergency protocols that operate before photographs go viral, independent technical review of every national question paper, public disclosure of examination failures, and a transparent remedy for affected candidates.

My Recommendations to the US Department of Energy

Why should this matter to Bangladeshi readers? The future of high-performance computing will likely be led by the United States and China.

Why Doesn’t Bangladesh Produce More Breakthroughs?

A country becomes innovative not when its officials announce innovation, but when its inventors no longer need to beg them for the right to build.

One More System We Don’t Need to Build

The real problem is not device ownership. It is device access. And how you design that difference determines whether a policy quietly succeeds or loudly fails

Will Dr. Zahid go after Facebook and YouTube?

He can keep the portfolio as a badge of party confidence. Or he can turn it into something rarer in our politics: A record. And if he wants that record to mean anything, he should begin by demanding answers from Facebook and YouTube.

Wait. We Don’t Have a Strategic Petroleum Reserve?

If Bangladesh builds an SPR, it must not repeat either failure mode: Not scarcity through neglect, and not expansion without scrutiny. That, finally, is the real argument for a Bangladeshi reserve. Not a monument. Not another expensive ribbon-cutting exercise. A shield.

10 Questions for Bobby Hajjaj

The education system of Bangladesh is not merely a ministry. It is one of the largest social systems in the world. Running such a system is not simply a policy challenge. It is an administrative challenge of almost unimaginable scale.

Should the Police Killings Be Investigated?

If unlawful killings by police are prosecuted while unlawful killings of police are ignored, the law becomes partisan. If mob killings are investigated while state killings are diluted, the law becomes cynical.

They Knew

Who is the Facebook or Instagram of this era? Which AI platforms are being deployed into children’s bedrooms, classrooms and social lives without full transparency about internal research? Which companies are already measuring how certain prompts, filters or recommendation engines affect adolescent self-image, loneliness, or compulsive use?

Should Mahfuj Alam Get a Second Chance?

Second chances are possible. But history does not reward clever positioning or carefully worded distance. It honors courage, sacrifice, and fidelity to truth -- especially inconvenient truth.

The State Had a Full Year. The Students Never Do.

Governments have changed. Elections have come and gone. Political narratives have shifted -- sometimes dramatically. Yet NCTB has remained reliably unable to perform its most basic function.

A Curious Case of Justice

That is the real horror. If one clearly innocent doctor required thirteen layers of influence to secure bail, how many other innocent people are still inside -- unseen, unheard, and unrescued?

The True Story of December 16, 1971

On this day, Bangladesh did not yet know what it would become. It only knew what it had endured. The newspapers recorded surrender, denial, diplomacy, return, and rebirth. The people carried something else entirely -- a heavy, wordless knowledge of survival. That knowledge, more than any headline, is what remains.

How Rich Are Our Princes?

Neither Tarique Rahman nor Sajeeb Wazed Joy can claim moral leadership without embracing financial transparency. They owe the public answers not because they are accused men, but because they are influential men. They owe the public honesty because they seek to shape the future of Bangladesh.

A Call From The Past

If our leaders want to know where this road leads, they do not need to look far. Pakistan chose the path of appeasing extremists. The consequences have been catastrophic.

The Erasure of Jahanara Imam

At SUST, Bangladesh has chosen to forget Jahanara Imam. It has chosen to betray its mother to appease its murderers. It has chosen to sanctify cowardice with religion. The dormitory that should have carried her name now bears the name of a saint, not because the country lacks martyrs, but because it lacks the courage to honor them.