Courtesy of LA Tech University Communications
Louisiana Tech University senior Jesse Webb will represent the United States this April at the NYU Abu Dhabi International Hackathon for Social Good, one of the world’s premier student quantum computing competitions.
Webb, a Physics, Mathematics and Music triple major with a minor in Computer Science, earned his place on the international stage after winning the International Quantum Circuit Championship at QuantathonV2 in South Carolina this fall. His team, Team 17, secured first place in the competition, advancing to the global championship in Abu Dhabi.
“Competing internationally is an incredible opportunity,” Webb said. “Quantum computing is a global field, and being able to represent Louisiana Tech and compete alongside students from around the world is both exciting and humbling.”
The Abu Dhabi competition will bring together top student innovators to apply quantum computing to real-world challenges. Webb’s qualifying project developed a hybrid quantum and classical machine learning pipeline to predict tornado intensity using atmospheric data. The project also earned an Honorable Mention in the 2025 qBraid GPU4Quantum Challenge.
“We wanted to show that quantum computing can be applied to meaningful, high-impact problems,” Webb said. “Tornado prediction affects real communities. Being able to combine physics, data science, and quantum algorithms to approach that problem was incredibly rewarding.”
Webb’s upcoming trip to Abu Dhabi caps an extraordinary year of rapid achievement in quantum computing. In January, he earned 2nd Place at MIT’s iQuHACK in the IQM Quantum Computers Challenge, where his team developed scalable methods for verifying quantum entanglement on real quantum hardware. Last spring, he won 3rd Place at the Yale Quantum Institute’s YQuantum competition, his first in-person quantum hackathon.
“In less than a year, Jesse has placed at Yale, won a national championship, placed at MIT, and now advanced to international competition,” said Dr. Lee Sawyer, academic director of Physics and Chemistry. “That trajectory is remarkable. Competing in Abu Dhabi places him among the world’s top student quantum innovators.”
Webb’s success in quantum computing builds on a broader interdisciplinary foundation. He recently completed a summer internship with Fermilab and the University of Alabama in quantum machine learning for high-energy physics and was awarded a four-month research extension as a Department of Energy’s High Energy Physics RENEW SPRINT Scholar. He was also nominated last year for the Barry Goldwater Scholarship, one of the nation’s most prestigious undergraduate awards in science and mathematics. Most recently this month, Webb has been named a Presser Scholar, receiving the Presser Foundation’s Undergraduate Scholar Award, a national recognition for outstanding senior music majors.
“My background in both physics and music has shaped how I approach problems,” Webb said. “Music teaches discipline and creative interpretation. Physics teaches analytical rigor. Quantum computing requires both.”
As he prepares for the April competition, Webb says the international stage represents more than personal achievement.
“This field is still emerging,” Webb said. “To be part of it at this stage, and to represent Louisiana Tech internationally, is something I take seriously. I’m looking forward to learning from other teams around the world and pushing our ideas even further.”
