Engineering Mother and Daughter Graduate in Tandem

Neda Ahmadi was pregnant with her daughter, Ghazal Moghaddami, while studying social sciences 23 years ago at a Payameh Noor University campus in her home country, Iran. Now the two women are both receiving their bachelor’s degrees in engineering at the University of Arizona’s 2019 Commencement ceremony May 10.

Ahmadi chose mechanical engineering because she’s good at math and problem-solving. Moghaddami chose biomedical engineering to combine her interest in math with a chance to work with hospital patients. They came to Tucson to join Moghaddami’s father, who works as a nurse practitioner.

“The learning process for me is like walking in a new world,” Ahmadi said. “Whenever I learn things, I feel like I’m seeing a new aspect of the world, the same way that people who travel to Europe or Australia or Hawaii to see new places might feel.”

Learn more about the dynamic duo in this Good Morning Tucson video clip.