Meet Dr. Rehan Ahmed MS’10, PhD’15, a well-known academician from Lahore. Dr. Rehan Ahmed received his bachelor of science from Engineering University Lahore and then entered UW–Madison’s master’s degree program in electrical engineering in 2008. From 2008 to 2015, he spent a good seven years on campus at UW–Madison. He completed his PhD from UW–Madison in 2015. and his specialization was in real-time computing systems. In 2015, he went to ETH Zurich, Switzerland, as a postdoc, and remained there until 2019, and then he finally returned to Pakistan. Except for the first year in his master’s program working as a research assistant, Rehan worked as a teaching assistant while at UW–Madison for six consecutive years. He was also awarded the Gerald Holdridge Teaching Excellence Award from the UW in 2014. Here is a quick summary of an interview we did with him recently.
Tell us about your experience at UW–Madison. What made you decide on the UW for your college degree?
The decision to join UW–Madison was based on familiarity. My elder brother used to live in Brookfield, WI, at that time — around 1.5 hours’ bus ride away from UW–Madison. At the time of decision-making, I also saw that UW–Madison was ranked very well, making it a natural choice. To say that the experience at UW–Madison was transformative would be an understatement. It has defined several pathways in my life and continues to do so.
When did you decide to come back to Pakistan, and why?
Actually, even before going for my MS/PhD, I had always wanted to return because I believed that the societal impact I could have in Pakistan would far exceed that in any other country. I live by this hope now.
Do you still miss UW–Madison? What do you miss most?
I do … although I do not like to dwell on these thoughts much. In particular, I
miss the lakes and the extensive bike trails in and around Madison.
Any message to the current students and alumni?
I do not think I am far enough in my journey and accomplished enough to be giving out messages. However, if I have to say something, it would be this: You will find UW–Madison a great enabler, which will hopefully put you in a position of privilege and power. If you reach that place and have been there, remain conscientious and empathetic towards the less privileged sections of your community.