Zakia Ahmed

Hi, my name is Zakia Ahmed and I am a second-year Mechanical Engineering Ph.D. student at Virginia Tech. I officially started tutoring in October 2019. I have always enjoyed helping my peers during my undergraduate and graduate career. I met Scott during a class we had together during the Spring 2019 semester and he later offered me a position as a tutor. I hope to stay in academia after obtaining my Ph.D., so tutoring is a great stepping stone for me to get acclimated to a teaching environment and develop my skillset. I find that teaching really helps solidify my knowledge of the subject I am teaching and I love the experience of helping others understand a concept.

During my years as an undergraduate student, I interned at Amazon where I got to work in one of their warehouses on a project to improve the efficiency of their stocking process. I also worked as an undergraduate research assistant under Dr. Leila Ladani where I worked on micro/nanofabrication processes. More specifically, I devised a plan to manufacture carbon nanotubes between two conductive materials and test the conductivity of the carbon nanotubes. My graduate research is in the area of dynamics and controls under Dr. Craig Woolsey, where I am exploring vibrational control.

Outside of academia, I enjoy traveling, hiking, some outdoor activities like rafting, and cooking. I remember reading and re-reading different concepts I was taught in class and looking through various examples with my classmates and professors to really grasp the material. I think tutoring is great because I get to help others with learning things that I may have once struggled with. It can be very reassuring for students to know that their tutor had trouble with the same topics they’re learning now. I look forward to connecting with students and providing them with the help, confidence, and reassurance they need to succeed! 🙂