Experience Spotlight: Sreemanth Panthangi 

Name: Sreemanth Panthangi 

 

Pronouns: he/him

 

Semester of Work Experience: Summer 2026

 

UMBC Major or Program: Information Systems 

 

Current Class Level: Senior

 

I recently obtained experience in a(n)... Part-time (off-campus) job

 

Work Experience Site (Company/Organization Name): Astral Trading Inc.

 

Location of the Organization (City, State): Potomac MD

 

Title of position: ai/ml engineer 

 

Tell us about your experience, including your day-to-day responsibilities: From May to August 2026, I was an AI/ML Engineering Intern at Astral Trading, a small fintech startup in Baltimore. Astral lets people describe a trading idea in plain English and turns it into a strategy they can test and run. Most of my days were spent working with market data, like stock prices and news, and building models that tried to spot useful patterns in it. I would clean up the data, try out different approaches, and then test how well each one would have worked on past market data. I also worked on the user side, figuring out which users were most likely to sign up and stick around so the team knew where to focus. We worked in short sprints, so I had regular check-ins with the team where I shared what I'd found and what I was working on next.

Describe the process of obtaining your position. When did you hear of the position and submit your application?

I got this position by moving into it from my previous role at Astral. I started there in May 2025 as a Data Analyst Intern, and over time I got more involved in the technical side of the product. In March 2026, I talked with Evan Wenzel, Astral's CEO, about taking on a role focused more on AI and modeling, and I applied for the position in April. Since I already knew the team and the product, it was a pretty natural next step, and I started in May 2026.

 

What resources did you use to find your current experience?

Student Organizations/Scholar Groups, LinkedIn or other social media

 

What have you enjoyed the most about your position and organization?

Astral is a small team, so my work wasn't stuck in a corner somewhere. If I built something, people actually used it and gave me feedback right away. I also liked that everyone was open to new ideas, even from an intern. It made me feel like I had a real say in where the product was going, and I learned a lot just by being around people who care about what they're building.

 

How do you believe you have made an impact through your work?

I think my biggest impact was helping the team make decisions based on actual data instead of guesses. The models I worked on gave us a better sense of which trading ideas held up when tested on past market data and which ones didn't. On the user side, figuring out which users were most likely to sign up and stay helped the team focus its time and effort in the right places. Because I'd already been at Astral as a Data Analyst, I could connect the technical work back to what the business needed, which made the work more useful. I also proposed the business case for Astral MCP which was a huge hit and the startup started seeing revenue. 

 

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?

Keep applying yourself, do honest work and always ask questions, the longer you play dumb and tell yourself you’ll bluff your way out of situations, the deeper you’ll fall into it. Always ask questions to understand and apply your work. Always let people know exactly what you want your hands on so they’ll have you at the back of their mind as time progresses.