Dr Sami Ahmad was born and brought up in Egypt. He recounts his father’s dedication to Sami's education and that of his siblings. He credits his father’s encouragement as the reason for leaving school early and moving away from his village to study at Cairo University at the tender age of 14 years. He completed his first degree in engineering, graduating as the youngest student at the age of 19 years. He went on to teach at the university while completing another science degree that supported his teaching activities. Upon graduation, he completed his military service in the Egyptian army before getting a scholarship for post-graduate study at the University of Birmingham in 1977. He arrived in the UK with his wife and son. He feels he was lucky to come to Birmingham: he liked that the city was large enough to have everything he needed but not so big that he might feel lost. He became active in the social life of the university and was Chair of the Egyptian Society from 1977. He describes meeting every month and getting reels of Egyptian films to watch together. They would also arrange visits to other parts of the UK.
After completing his studies, Sami joined forces with a colleague to create a company focussing on transferring knowledge from the academic world to create technology with real-life applications. Transfer Technology Limited was established in 1984 to create leading solutions for the aerospace and automotive industry. His work involved a lot of travelling and long working hours that stretched into the weekend and Sami describes his wife’s work in supporting the family “my [poor] wife was struggling, on her own taking care of all of these kids. She did a very good job … However, the decision [to stay] wasn’t difficult because I didn’t seek to stay here, I just found myself staying here and cannot leave… it was decided for me.” Even when he was head-hunted to work for Vodafone in Cairo, he found that it was not a good time to pull his children out of school or for the business he had set up. Instead, he worked to establish stronger ties with the Egyptian community that had settled in Birmingham, which made the transition for his wife easier. Now that the children are adults they love to go back to Egypt three times a year, “but we still have our life here because life is where your children and where your grandchildren and interests are. I miss the 10 O’ Clock News and the politics when I am in Egypt.”
Sami talks with passion about how Muslims living here can interact with local [non-Muslim] communities. Sami and his family live in Olton, Solihull, where his son-in-law, Daniel Jackson worked with other Muslims of his generation to establish The Olton Project (TOP) ten years ago. They now teach Arabic, Quran and Islamic Studies to around 150 children of all backgrounds, including non-Muslims. Sami also supports the work of TOP as a treasurer.
