Interview with Amir Abdi, ECE PhD ’20 – Diversity is Key: a Tale of Dentistry and Machine Learning

“We are living in an ever-changing world, and the chances of your random bits of information positively impacting your life is not small…”

Amir Abdi graduated in 2020 with a PhD from the the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Abdi’s research links the science of machine learning, the art of software engineering, and jaw reconstructive surgeries and cardiovascular interventions. 

Over the course of his studies, Abdi pursued degrees in dentistry as well as in Computer Engineering. He followed these degrees with a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from UBC, during which he was awarded the Vanier Scholarship of Canada.

In this interview with UBC Applied Science, he discusses why he chose his unique field of study, his insights for students pursuing their own studies, and his outlook as he concludes his PhD.