Muslim Alumni
Experience over the years
NYU Tandon has been the bearer of many names over the years. But we will focus on the following periods:
- 1985: Polytechnic University of New York
- 2008: Polytechnic Institute of New York University
- 2014: New York University Polytechnic School of Engineering
- 2015: New York University Tandon School of Engineering
The following are alumni of NYU Tandon from various stages of the school's history who identify as Muslim. It is important to highlight their achievements because it gives current and prospective students a roadmap of where they can take their futures.
Polytechnic University of New York
Abed Islam attended Tandon when it was known as the Polytechnic University of New York. He attended Poly from 2001 to 2009 and in his first two years, he was majoring in computer science. He then transferred to Liberal Studies and received his Bachelor's in Liberal Studies in 2005. He then pursued a master's degree in Integrated Digital Media from 2005 to 2008 but was unable to graduate "due to one administrative or technical nightmare after another. [And he hasn't] had the combination of time, energy, and money to go back for completion."
He started his career in technology in the early 2000s during the rise of the internet. He started his career at a company called Brainlink where he served as the link between their designers and developers. He also worked to improve the Polytechnic University website where he redesigned the site and brought it up to par with modern web design standards for the time. He then took a couple of roles as a web developer and then moved on to technical customer support roles where he combined his skills of design and development to better serve his respective clients.
I found Abed’s information in the 2005 Polywog after which I reached out to him on LinkedIn. Through our conversation on LinkedIn, I learned that he did not face any discrimination within Poly as a result of the 9/11 attacks. This was very surprising for me because I had always heard stories about Muslims being attacked after 9/11 and it was my assumption that this would carry on within college campuses. I also learned from Abed that student activities were centered around a singular location on campus (Chowdhury). This is quite a contrast from what we have at Tandon today where clubs are scattered around and there isn’t a singular center for clubs to congregate. Overall, it was a fascinating experience speaking with Abed. I found that he is also a graduate of the Bronx High School of Science and it was fun to speak with a fellow alumnus and see the path he took following high school and college.
Polytechnic Institute of NYU
Nasif Mahmud graduated Cum Laude from NYU Tandon with a B.S. in Electrical and Electronics Engineering. He entered Tandon when it was known as the Polytechnic Institute of New York University. This was a period when Polytechnic University became an affiliate of NYU but was not fully integrated into the NYU ecosystem, according to Mahmud (Chowdhury, The Muslim Experience at NYU Tandon). This means that at this point Poly and NYU were in the middle of their merger and were working together to figure out the finalization plans for the merger. During this affiliation period, graduates of Poly were still not receiving NYU degrees. Nasif entered the school when it was just an NYU affiliate, but when he graduated, he received an NYU degree as by the time he graduated, the merger was complete.
When I spoke to him about his experience at Tandon in terms of student life and community, he expressed a fondness for his time at Tandon and told me about his group of friends whom he would study and “suffer” with. He says that going through Tandon with a group of people who have common experiences with you makes it way more bearable. I agree with his sentiment as I have also experienced this myself. When you do not have anyone to share your experiences with, you become alone and unmotivated but when you have people you can share your experiences with, things become a lot easier.
While he was attending Tandon, he held two internship positions. One of them was at a firm called Embedded Adventures where he was an Embedded Engineer Intern. There he worked with Python to create libraries for hardware under the Rasberry Pi microcontroller along with other responsibilities. Another internship he held was at a firm called EP Engineering where he was in charge of completing a variety of projects such as drafting AutoCAD drawings, generating excel sheets, and automating AutoCAD blocks, along with applying his knowledge of Electrical Code to accurately implement branch circuiting, disconnect switches, junction boxes, motors, dampers, transformers, lighting control, sensors, and distribution panels to construction plans (Mahmud).
He is currently a Product Engineer at Texas Instruments and is pursuing his master's degree in Systems Engineering and Management from the University of Texas Dallas.
NYU | Tandon School of Engineering
Tamzidul Islam graduated from the NYU Tandon School of Engineering with a B.S. in Civil Engineering. Following the completion of his Bachelor’s degree, he completed his Master's degree in Civil Engineering from Columbia University in the City of New York. He is also an Engineer in Training (EIT) and has been certified by the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES).
During his time at Tandon, he found a small community in the MSA prayer room where he would discuss career prospects and various other topics with his peers (Chowdhury, The Muslim Experience at NYU Tandon). However, he did not get too involved with student life on campus. What makes him stand out most is his dedication to his community and making it a more well-managed place for the convenience and pleasure of all members. He currently serves as the director of operations for Parkchester Islamic Center (PiC) which is the largest mosque in the Bronx. During his time at PiC, he helped start their full-time Islamic school which he helped scale to approximately 200 full-time students across two centers in the Bronx and Brooklyn. Tamzid has also streamlined basic functions which have made everyone’s lives easier and has spearheaded fundraising efforts in which he helped raise upwards of $300,000 per year. He has also led the renovations of PiC’s facilities and has helped bring their infrastructure to the modern age. He has been with PiC for over 7 years and I have personally had the pleasure of working with him on many of his projects. Tamzid is a smart, talented, and highly focused individual and he sums up the essence of many students within our Muslim community at Tandon.
High School
One peculiar aspect of the academic journeys of all three alumni above is that they are all graduates of the Bronx High School of Science. The Bronx High School of Science is one of eight specialized high schools in New York City and is one of the most prestigious high schools in the nation. Entry into the school is granted upon the successful completion of the Specialized High School Student Admissions Test better known as the SHSAT which is taken when students are in the eighth grade.
It is interesting that their legacy of excellence started in their middle school days and it stresses the importance of motivating children from a young age to be ambitious and high achieving. We as a society need to place more emphasis on showing children from a young age the extent to what they can make of themselves. Children especially need to see themselves in their role models and so it is of utmost importance that we introduce them to role models who look like them and come from a similar background as them. It is my belief that this will give them a roadmap and perpetual motivation to strive for the top as that is what has worked for me.