ECE Student Mohammad Abd-Elmoniem to Graduate at 18

At 18, most students are looking forward to their high school graduation. Instead, Mohammad Abd-Elmoniem, who turned 18 just over a month ago, is in the last week of completing his degree in computer engineering.

As a 11th grader in Prince George’s County, Abd-Elmoniem qualified for dual enrollment at Prince George’s Community College. At the age of 15, he had earned enough credits to graduate with an Associate’s degree in general studies, then transferred to the University of Maryland College Park in January 2023. Initially, he intended to study Computer Science, but soon after switched to the ECE Department after determining that he preferred a more hands-on approach to computer engineering.

After joining ECE, he set a goal of completing all required credits in time to graduate in the spring semester, not wanting to finish classes in summer and winter and having to wait until the next year to graduate. In order to achieve his goal, he has taken up to 20 credits per semester, plus earning 13 credits over two sessions in the summer.

In addition to college classes, Abd-Elmoniem has been busy rounding out his resume, even though his first work experience did not go as planned. His first job was providing coding experience on the freelance website Fiverr, but he was eventually notified by the company that he was too young.

At the age of 16, he was accepted into the Summer Research Experience for Undergraduates at Duke University, where he lived on his own for the duration of the nine week program. Since returning to Maryland, he has continued his research with Duke by working on a program involving imaging through walls using machine learning to scan walls to see what is behind them. He has assisted with using ML algorithms to improve the image architecture and allowing images to be more readable.

During the summer of 2024, he participated in the National Security Scholars Summer Internship Program, which is supported by a cooperative agreement and collaboration with the Army Research Lab. Through the program, he conducted research in biophysics with Professor Wolfgang Losert in the UMD Department of Physics. Currently, he is working with the Fischell Department of Bioengineering, in collaboration with Children’s National Hospital, on a smart tracheostomy tube that monitors CO2 levels.

While at UMD, he has been a member of the App Dev Club, a student organization that allows students to gain experience in mobile app development in conjunction with corporate sponsors. In addition to the opportunity to work on projects with Amazon and General Dynamics, Abd-Elmoniem notes that becoming a member of and meeting friends in the App Dev Club has perhaps been his most memorable college experiences.

As a younger student, Abd-Elmoniem has faced many challenges, such as handling a heavy course load, managing stress, and learning executive functioning skills that often take years to master. He is most proud of how his character has developed over the last few years and how learning to collaborate with older students has made him a better person along the way. If he could go back and change anything, he adds that he would be more conscious of work/life balance and would like to have had more time to explore areas of personal interest, such as bioengineering.

“ECE creates this unique space where the hardest problems bring people together instead of dividing them,” says Abd-Elmonieum. “ My professors and classmates valued my work rather than focusing on my age. The technical challenges were intense, but facing them alongside people from different backgrounds taught me something crucial - engineering works best when diverse perspectives tackle difficult problems together. The department's strength comes from this mix of rigorous standards and genuine community.”

Looking forward to his post-graduation life, Abd-Elmoniem is currently applying for positions in software engineering. In the future, he is considering graduate school, but only after first gaining industry work experience.

Published May 20, 2025