Ahmed Alshaer is part of a new generation of Emiratis studying technical subjects, and has already worked on a dodgeball game, a hospital database system and a robot.
The 20-year-old, who has an Emirati father and a Lebanese mother, is in the last year of his computer-engineering degree at the American University of Sharjah (AUS).
He says that AUS has a “very big Emirati presence”, which shows “people are willing and interested – and would like to learn and better themselves”.
One of his favourite projects, he says, was the dodgeball app that monitored ball speed and where it hit participants.
Another fun experience, he adds, was working on a robot while interning at Masdar. It would play games alongside users and “punish them” for not co-operating – by questioning their motives.
He has also worked on a project that would make hospital visits paperless, by linking customers to a database.
His degree, which he’s due to complete this autumn, was made easier by a private education, he says. However, he also attributes his school’s focus on English for not being able to speak Arabic as fluently as he would like.
“Growing up, I have had a lack of expertise in speaking my own language. I’m not embarrassed, but a little disappointed – I should speak my own language as fluently as people in other countries.”
Alshaer, who was born in Ajman and raised in Dubai, can speak the Emirati and Lebanese dialects, but friends often point out that he switches between the two.
Despite this, he says he’s proud to be from two cultures. “The culture here is much more conservative, which is very beautiful in a way, but in Lebanon it is very individualistic.”
My hobbies
I like to think that I’m someone who is able to be good at a lot of things – recently, it’s photography.
What programming languages do you know?
C, C+, C#, C++, Objective-C, Java and I meddled a bit with Python when I was on an internship at Masdar City.
What's a good programming language for beginners?
Swift – that really makes a lot of things a lot easier. It’s a great way to open up programming to kids: very clean.
What have you taken photographs of?
Jebel Al Jais in Ras Al Khaimah. We live in a very beautiful country – most people haven’t seen the beauty that the UAE has to provide.
My favourite sport
Swimming.
My inspiration
The people I look up to the most are my parents – my father is well educated, even though he didn’t go to school – a really smart, great man. And my mother, because she is very caring.
My favourite book
I like to read fiction. I like Paulo Coelho's stuff; George R R Martin; Cormac McCarthy – The Road is a really good book.
My philosophy for life
I have all these resources – I should use them. I have a phone; I should use social media. I have a car; so, I should use it to go to places. I wouldn’t like to live in a world where I say: ‘Oh, I wish.’
Do you travel much?
I haven’t so far, but I would really like to travel to some exotic places once I graduate.
How did your love of computer engineering begin?
I was a bit of a geek as a child, in the sense that I used to love games. But I always loved reading about how these things work.
halbustani@thenational.ae
