Information Systems • Data Strategy • Solutions Architecture
Mohamed Elosta
I’m an Information Systems student at
Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar.
I thrive in the messy middle between people and technology.
Whether I'm analyzing data for a research publication or building
a case for a debate championship, my focus is the same: digging
through the noise to find the evidence that matters.
Helping the university move away from Excel chaos. Building a
centralized system to manage 1,000+ corporate contacts. Replacing
Excel chaos with a real database that actually helps Student Affairs
make decisions.
Beyond Work
Horse Riding
Nothing like leading an 800kg beast to keep you humble and
focused.
3D Printing
I bought a 3D printer and never looked back. Best investment ever.
Need photos :)
Boxing
Teaches discipline and confidence. Also, it's a great workout.
Highly recommended.
Experience
Dec 2025 – Present
Internship
Lead Developer: Employer Engagement System
CMU-Q Student Affairs
The department was struggling to manage relationships with over
1,000 corporate partners using only spreadsheets. I am leading the
transition to a proper data infrastructure.
• Redesigning their data architecture to centralize 1,000+
companies, contacts, and placements.
• Creating automated reports to identify engagement gaps and
hiring trends.
• The new system will allow the team to generate engagement
reports instantly instead of taking days.
Tools & Skills
Process ImprovementSQLPythonDatabase DesignData Analysis
May 2025 – Nov 2025
Internship
Cybersecurity Researcher
Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI)
Worked on understanding how cyberattacks happen in physical
factories (Industrial Control Systems) so we can train AI to spot
them.
• Built a digital replica of a factory to safely test dangerous
malware like Stuxnet.
• Mapped real-world attack patterns to the MITRE ATT&CK framework
to understand the attacker's mindset.
• Programmed PLCs to run realistic attack scenarios, generating
the data needed for Machine Learning defense models.
A biology professor mentioned his lab data was inconsistent
because every student performed the "scratch assay" differently by
hand. I saw this as a design problem, not just a biology one.
• Interviewed the lab team to understand exactly where the human
error was happening.
• Designed a custom 3D-printed tool to mechanically standardize
the scratch, removing the variable of human hand steadiness.
• Iterated through 20+ designs based on user feedback until the
tool produced consistent, usable data.
Tools & Skills
Product DesignRapid PrototypingCAD3D Printing
Feb 2025
Hardware/IoT
RevoScope: Crisis Response Optimization
In mass-casualty events, doctors waste valuable time manually
writing down patient vitals. I built a device to automate this
process.
• Engineered a rugged medical tool that automatically categorizes
patients during triage.
• Built an IoT framework that instantly sends patient data to a
central dashboard, so doctors know who to treat first.
• Presented the business case to stakeholders, focusing on time
saved per patient.
I realized I was spending too much time managing my inbox and
calendar. I built a personal AI agent to handle the administrative
overhead for me.
• Connected LLMs to my Google Workspace via APIs to allow the AI
to actually do things, not just talk.
• The agent reads emails, drafts replies in Arabic/English, and
manages my schedule via voice commands.
• Designed using the Model Context Protocol (MCP) to enable
secure, standardized data access.
I led a student team to publish a review paper in a Q1
peer-reviewed journal. While the topic was nanotechnology, the
core challenge was information management: taking 180+ dense
technical papers and turning them into one clear, structured
argument.
• Reviewed and connected findings from 180+ sources to build a
coherent paper.
• Translated complex scientific data into clear, professional
writing.
• Managed the team's timeline and deliverables over 8 months.
• Handled the peer-review process, making necessary revisions to
get accepted.
Literature ReviewResearch SynthesisScientific WritingTeam CoordinationProject Management
Leadership
Charity Week – Head
August 2025 – October 2025
Led the campus-wide campaign that raised QAR 74,000 in one week—the
highest total among all universities in Qatar. This wasn't a solo
effort; it was a massive coordination challenge.
• Convinced 14 different student clubs to join the cause and aligned
them under one goal.
• Managed a 30-person core team and negotiated logistics with
university administration.
• We beat our own fundraising records and outperformed institutions
with 75x more students.
Raised QAR 74,000 in one week—the highest total among
All institutions in Qatar.
Team LeadershipEvent StrategyStakeholder ManagementFundraising
Arabic Debate Team – Vice President
October 2024 – Present
Debate is where I learned to think on my feet. As VP, I mentor new
students and represent the university in international competitions.
• Competed against 145 debaters from 18 countries at the Asian
Championship, reaching the Grand Final.
• My role requires analyzing complex
political/economic/social/philosophical motions in 20 minutes and
building a structured argument.
• I coach incoming students on how to communicate their ideas
clearly and persuasively.
Public SpeakingCritical ThinkingPersuasionMentorship
Blog
Life
Why I Don't Use LinkedIn
December 2025
The short answer? It's not for me.
First, it feels fake. People post random updates just to look good,
and it often comes off as desperate. Second, there's the Microsoft
factor. I'm not interested in handing over all my professional data
for free, or worse, paying for "Premium" just to get exposure.
Third, it's just another form of social media, and I've already quit
that. Every other day, "LinkedIn Warriors" hop onto GPT, ask it to
write a post about xyz, and hit share. Like bro, why?
I know I'm putting myself at a disadvantage by not having an updated
account, but I'm okay with that risk. That's why I built this
website. It's a platform where I actually own my work, thoughts, and
ideas.
Is it hypocritical to say I don't want to give my info to a company
while putting it on the open web? Maybe. But here, I have control.
I'm not pressured to make fake posts or share things I don't stand
with. This feels real. This is actually me.
Leadership
The Underdogs: 2nd Place in Asia (and 1st Place in Go-Karting)
November 2025
I always push myself to do new things. Whenever I get that feeling
of discomfort, that weird emptiness in my stomach, I know I have to
follow through. For me, that feeling is Debate.
You get 20 minutes to prepare for a one-hour debate. 20 minutes to
defend a position you might personally disagree with. 20 minutes to
organize the ideas of an entire team. It's terrifying. So when I
heard about the
Asian Arabic Debating Championship in Oman, I said,
"Count me in."
The trip started with me sleeping on my teammates' couch because my
assigned roommate didn't answer the door, but things picked up fast.
Over the first two days, we won 4 out of 5 rounds and qualified for
the quarterfinals. We thought, "Good run, let's call it a day." Then
we hit the semifinals. Then, at dinner, it was announced:
Carnegie Mellon University has made it to the Finals.
The final was in a Ministry building with Omani ministers and the
Qatari Ambassador present. I was the third speaker, and I'll be
honest, I was scared. If you checked the rest of my site, you know
the ending: We lost.
It sounds like a sad ending, but looking back, we took
2nd Place in all of Asia. A team from an American
university stood on that stage in a regional Arabic championship and
took the silver. Shoutout to my teammates Mohamed Elazani and Ali
Shaar. Couldn't have done it without them. And huge thanks to our
coach Diram and his friend Mohamed for grinding through all those
practice rounds with us.
Best moment: The night before the final, a group of
debaters and judges wanted to go go-karting late at night. Most
people would have stayed in to sleep, but I said, "Hell yeah." I won
first place in the race. At least I won something that week. :)
CMU-Q has around 400 students. Somehow, we raised over 73,000 QAR in
a single week.
To put that in perspective, we raised more than every other QF
university combined. We even beat Qatar University, which has 75x
more students than us. Alhamdulillah.
This was my first time leading Charity Week, and since the last one
was before COVID, there was no "how-to" guide left behind. I had to
start from scratch. I reached out to every club in CMU-Q. Some
weren't interested, but 14 of them stepped up.
It was a massive headache trying to sync facilities, student
affairs, and 14 different clubs, but we made it work by making a
club representative part of our core team.
I have to thank Dina Al-Abdi (Program Director of
Student Engagement) for being our advisor. She rescued us every time
we hit a wall. Also, a huge shoutout to the Facilities, Events, and
IT teams for handling all our last-second changes.
To MSA, Chicken Legs, Arts & Craft, QSA, Knit & Knot, Bridges of
Hope, Innovation Studio, Student Majlis, and the Volleyball Club: we
did it. The best part was watching
Chicken Legs Club raise 30k in under two hours.
To everyone who donated or just showed up, every riyal mattered. We
proved that CMU-Q shows up when it counts.
People often ask, "What is Information Systems?" Even I had to
figure it out when I first joined the program at
Carnegie Mellon. Now, I'm clear on the mission: We
aren't "watered-down" Computer Science, and we aren't just IT. We
live at the intersection of Technology, People, and Business.
An IS major identifies a business challenge, finds a technical
solution, and designs it so people actually want to use it. We don't
just build algorithms for the sake of code that sits on a shelf. We
listen, evaluate, and build systems that solve real-world problems.
Some think this is a "joke" major because it isn't math-heavy, but I
don't care. I may not be the world's fastest programmer, but I am a
leader who knows how to use technology to move the needle. That's
why AI won't replace me. I'm not just a coder. I'm a bridge-builder.
Get in Touch
Feel free to reach out if you want to talk about projects,
collaboration, or just chat.
