Welcome to my blog, whose title comes from Professor Richard Hamming’s motto, “The purpose of computation is insight, not numbers” (SIAM).
After enjoying programming for years, I discovered applied math in mid-undergrad. I decided it would be harder, and therefore more interesting, than “just” software engineering. After years of grad school (ABD in electrical engineering from Ohio State), then working in the lovely D.C. metro area, I revised my views and came back to Ohio as a full-stack developer who just happens to know a lot about signal processing, machine learning, and scientific computing.
I sling JavaScript, Clojure/Script, Elm, Python, Matlab, and C for fun and profit. And when I’m not writing code or applying math, I enjoy studying the languages and literatures of Icelandic, Persian, Chinese, and Japanese civilizations.
I have a wonderful family. Here we are in disguise, circa mid-2015—Emily as Poirot, Alistair as Joseph Steel, Basile as Charlie Chaplain, and Ahmed (me) as Dalí:
(Banner image credit: self, at Glen Helen Nature Preserve, Yellow Springs, Ohio, USA.)