About me

I am a PhD candidate in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Toronto. My academic background is in aerospace and control engineering, and my research sits somewhere between robotics and autonomous systems. I have published in international journals and conferences, and hold a Canada Graduate Scholarship from NSERC.

But this website is not really about my PhD.

It is about the other side of things: the coding projects I build in my spare time, the courses I am working through, and the slow but real progress I am making as a programmer. I started taking this seriously a couple of years ago and I have not stopped since.

I am originally from Iran and currently based in Toronto, Canada.

If you enjoy what I build and want to support my work, I am approved on GitHub Sponsors. You are welcome to do so here:

Portfolio

Morning Ritual Gate

A macOS app that blocks your computer every morning until you have meditated and written 10 things you are grateful for. It came out of a genuine need for structure during PhD life. When nobody sets your schedule for you, it is easy to let good habits slip. So I automated the problem away.

It runs every time you open your laptop lid, tracks your daily streak, and saves your entries to a journal file with the date, time and streak day.

View on GitHub

100 Days of Code: Python

I am working through the 100 Days of Code Python bootcamp, building a new project every day. Topics range from beginner Python all the way to web development, data science, and automation. It is one of the best ways I have found to build real coding muscle rather than just watching tutorials.

View progress on GitHub

Machine Learning Projects

I completed two nanodegrees from Udacity in partnership with AWS and Intel, covering machine learning, deep learning, and AI implementation in Python. These were some of the projects that got me hooked on building things with code.

View on GitHub

What I am learning

I treat coding as a long-term skill I am building gradually alongside my research. Here is what I am working on:

Currently

100 Days of Code: Python. Working through this day by day. Each day is a new small project and a new concept.

Also currently

CS50, Harvard's introduction to computer science. Just started and already completed Week 0 (Scratch, 8/8) and Week 1 (C: Hello, Mario, Credit). Progress tracked on GitHub.

Completed

AI Programming with Python and Machine Learning Fundamentals nanodegrees from Udacity, in partnership with AWS and Intel.

NASA Open Science Skills Training (January 2025)

I will keep updating this page as I finish things. The goal is not to rush. The goal is to keep going.