QF’s UK alumni reflect on life and careers after graduation

Doha, Qatar: The achievements of the alumni of Qatar Foundation’s schools and universities, within Qatar and beyond, are the greatest testament to its belief and investment in quality education, as their paths and careers show how combining a unique learning experience with their skills and values can turn ambition into reality.

As its global community of alumni continues to expand year after year, Qatar Foundation (QF) brings them together across different continents to learn, support, collaborate, and keep them connected to Qatar and the region.

Dr. Ahmed ElGhamrawy’s story began 16 years ago, when he was among the Class of 2010 in the Electrical Engineering program at Texas A&M University at Qatar, a QF partner university.

“When I graduated, most of engineering graduates had the same goal: to work for an oil and gas operator,” he says. “And this was my case when I began my career at GE Oil & Gas at QF’s Qatar Science & Technology Park.”

However, for Dr. ElGhamrawy, academic degrees shouldn’t be fixed tracks or predetermined paths; they are a set of skills, and a way of thinking that can take people anywhere. As he says: “I later moved into healthtech, first as a founder and then helping scale digital health companies across the UK. Today I work in healthtech in London, as a Commercial Director at Abtrace, a path I could never have predicted back then.”

“Connecting with other QF alumni in the UK and Europe has been invaluable throughout. Many of us have made similar leaps across sectors and countries, and hearing how others navigated them has broadened how I think about building a career,” said Dr. ElGhamrawy, who was one of the speakers at the UK Alumni Forum.

In 2020, Moazam walked through the ‘Door to the Future’ at QF’s annual Convocation ceremony, having earned her Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q), a QF partner university. “My parents and the professors at CMU-Q encouraged me to choose Computer Science, knowing the opportunities it would open up for me,” she says.

Director of Strategy and Partnership within QF’s Higher Education division, Dr. Lolwa Al-Naemi, said: “Our alumni continue to make an impact through their skills and values, their capacity for innovation and entrepreneurship, and their sense of service and contribution. This impact is evident in Qatar and across the world, and our UK-based alumni personify this.