Harris Ahmad
PhD Student @ University at Buffalo | Software Engineer | Distributed Systems Researcher
Seeking Software Engineering PhD Research Internships for Summer 2026.
If you have a referral, please reach out to harrisah@buffalo.edu
About Me
I'm a PhD student in Computer Science at the University at Buffalo (SUNY), where I work under the guidance of Dr. Haonan Lu. My research focuses on distributed systems, database optimization, and scalable backend architectures.
Before starting my PhD, I gained 2+ years of professional software engineering experience building systems for companies like Walmart, Starbucks, and JLL, where I specialized in backend development using FastAPI, MongoDB, Redis, and modern cloud technologies.
During my undergraduate studies at LUMS, I was advised by Dr. Zafar Ayyub Qazi, Dr. Ihsan Ayyub Qazi, and Dr. Mian Muhammad Awais. I conducted research on internet affordability and YouTube ad costs, publishing at ACM WebConf 2024.
I'm passionate about solving complex problems at scale, whether through cutting-edge research or building production systems that impact millions of users.
Skills & Technologies
Programming: Python, C/C++, JavaScript, TypeScript, Go, Haskell, Bash, SQL, GraphQL
Frameworks: Flask, Django, Express.js, React, Next.js, FastAPI
Tools & Platforms: AWS, Azure, Git/GitHub, Linux, Docker, Postman
Databases: MongoDB, CockroachDB, ScyllaDB, MySQL, Oracle
Research Focus: Distributed Systems, Concurrency Protocols, Database Optimization
Featured Projects
SimpleAuth
npm authentication package built on Passport.js, providing easy-to-use authentication strategies for Node.js applications.
Data Structures & Algorithms
Comprehensive implementations of fundamental DSA in multiple languages covering trees, graphs, sorting, and dynamic programming.
Crypto Telegram Bot
Real-time cryptocurrency price monitoring bot in Go with live alerts, portfolio tracking, and market analysis via CoinGecko API.
Awaaz E Sehat
Flask-based eHealth platform improving healthcare accessibility with patient management, appointments, and telemedicine capabilities.
Work Experience
Research Software Engineer
- Implemented 3 concurrency and replication protocols (primary backup, chain replication, two phase locking) in Go to test their effectiveness in systems suited for collaborative AI as part of an ongoing NSF grant
- Testing protocols using CloudLab's 4-node architecture showed existing protocols are unfit for nodes that collaborate in real-time
- Developing a distributed transaction reordering & coordination system for NSF funded project by designing a snapshot-based architecture in C++ and Go that reduces lock contention and minimizes transaction abort rate, achieving significant throughput improvement (submitting to OSDI'26)
Software Engineer
- Built on-the-fly media generation API using FastAPI and MongoDB that reduced page load time by 60%, dynamically generating asset thumbnails as users scroll through 10K+ item inventories
- Deployed SSO authentication using OAuth 2.0 & FusionAuth enabling enterprise users to access systems with existing credentials
- Created admin debugging and playground dashboards that exposed system metrics via direct OS calls, reducing troubleshooting time from hours to minutes for 50+ support tickets
Research Software Engineer
- Built Awaaz-e-Sehat health platform using Python Flask on AWS Lambda, reducing API response time from 5s to 500ms handling 10K+ daily medical queries
- Designed serverless data pipeline AWS (Lambda, DynamoDB, S3) to store and index 50K+ medical recordings, eliminating server costs while scaling automatically
- Built medical transcription service using Whisper API and GPT-4, converting consultations to structured clinical notes with 95% accuracy, processing 1K+ recordings daily
Publications
Uncovering the Hidden Data Costs of Mobile YouTube Ads
ACM Web Conference 2024 (TheWebConf'24) • Singapore • May 2024
Get In Touch
I'm currently seeking software engineering PhD research internship opportunities for Summer 2026. Feel free to reach out!
Email: harrisah@buffalo.edu | harrisah@buffalo.edu
Location: Buffalo, New York
GitHub: github.com/harris-ahmad
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/harris-ahmad