After completing an undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering from the American University of Beirut (Lebanon) in 2018 and working for around four years in the cryogenics industry, Ahmad changed careers to data science and analytics. Taking his first online data analytics in Python course from Academy Xi unlocked his passion for the field.

After a year of independently learning and practicing the fundamentals of data science (while still working full-time) using various online learning platforms such as Codecademy.com and LearnSQL.com, Ahmad moved to Leeds in September 2022 to start his MSc in Business Analytics & Decision Sciences at the University of Leeds.
Last September, Ahmad completed his MSc and started his first role in data as a Data Scientist on the Leeds Institute for Data Analytics (LIDA) Data Scientist Development Programme (DSDP).

As a Data Scientist at LIDA, Ahmad leads two-six month data science research projects for the public good over the course of a full year. Ahmad’s first project, which concluded at the end of March, examined the spatial relationship between food insecurity risk and health outcomes to support Good Food Oxfordshire (GFO) in prioritising levers to support the food system in specific areas where food insecurity could be aggravating health inequalities.

Ahmad has developed research interests in public health, wellbeing and welfare while working on his two DSDP projects. Ahmad is interested in these research topics as outputs that could make a direct impact on people’s lives.

Ahmad’s second DSDP project, which is in collaboration with Vulnerability & Policing Futures Research Centre and Connected Bradford, uses the Connected Bradford database to support the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council in identifying children at risk of becoming ‘looked after’. Ahmad is working on this project alongside two of his DSDP colleagues.