Maha Nawaz
A student with a dream to empower people through the use of technology
Rise Global Winner
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Chegg.org Global Student Top 10 Finalist
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IEEE Published Researcher & Lead Author
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Founder of NGO SheMakes
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Rise Global Winner • Chegg.org Global Student Top 10 Finalist • IEEE Published Researcher & Lead Author • Founder of NGO SheMakes •
Engineering Projects
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Closed Loop Scientist
We designed and built an agentic harness for enzyme design and validation, handed it to Claude, and wired it into a Hamilton robot.
It came back with fourteen working, new-to-nature enzymes. To our knowledge this is the first autonomously designed de novo enzyme.
WATCH HERE: https://youtu.be/1frGnIm6k-M
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Autonomous CPR Robot
A CPR robot that detects when a high risk patient is flatlining through a wearable IR heart rate sensor and immediately calls paramedics and then autonomously steers and positions itself over the patients chest and performs CPR until the paramedics arrive, potentially saving lives.
WATCH HERE:
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7429417512934653952/ -

Myoelectric prosthetic for friend without hand
Designed and 3d-printed a prosthetic controlled through residual muscle contractions, created an ml algorithm that processed and predicts data into prosthetic grip
WATCH HERE:
https://youtu.be/3lLYtwCNpO4 -

Brainwave eye-movement prosthetic arm
Processed brainwaves through DL algorithms, FFT analysis, modelled and 3d-printed a 7 DofF prosthetic controlled through eye movements for locked in patients
WATCH HERE:
https://youtu.be/fGeMudsAX2I -

3-state mind controlled robotic arm
Created a prototype arm that predicts 3 classes of thoughts with over 80% accuracy using DL learning and wave decomposition; actions include picking up a cup and shaking hands, all without the user moving
WATCH HERE:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_P0Qzi4vjLNj6V11bLFMdJPbD00ZUK1p -

Robotic arm that plays rock, paper, scissors
Earned a “Distinction” for buildingan anatomically accurate robotic hand that plays rock, paper, scissors and has 4 degrees of freedom for my HPQ.
WATCH HERE:
https://youtube.com/shorts/D2-XEE6Mg4o?feature=share -

Caresync Remote Patient Monitoring App
Built a full-stack remote patient monitoring app that continuously records patients' vitals and prescription intake, enhancing preventative care and decreasing medical bills
WATCH HERE:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKuNXZ3ZwcQ -

Creating a Fibonacci Clock
Created a fibonacci clock that tells the time through the fibonacci sequence
WATCH HERE:
https://youtu.be/DZi3bHn22sw -

DIY vending machine to reward students
As my first ever engineering project, I built a vending machine where the player wins a game of pong before the coil spins and the student earns a treat!
WATCH HERE:
https://youtu.be/oJNks1Z1Bls -

Physics Semi-conductor 3d Model Visualisation
designed and 3d printed a semi-conductor model to visualise how electrons gain energy and how the voltage is used up through components
WATCH HERE:
https://youtu.be/FxA1CD-wpOU -
VONOS AI
Try it out: https://www.vonos.us/
AI-powered healthcare assistant designed to reduce the administrative burden on clinical staff. By integrating directly into existing clinical workflows it takes on the role traditionally filled by nurses during the intake process by automating time-consuming administrative tasks such as filling out patient forms, collecting patient data, and suggesting reasonable tests. This frees nurses to focus on what they do best, like taking vitals and providing hands-on patient care, while allowing doctors to dedicate their full attention to diagnoses and treatment plans.
About Me
A stanford sophomore who excels in her academic subjects and is passionate about empowering the special needs community through her EEG controlled prosthetic research, brain computer interface ML algorithms and light-weight assistive robotic hands. Maha is also determined to provide technological solutions to underprivileged families through her preventative disease healthcare apps as well as subsidized and commercialized robotics kits to rural areas in Pakistan.
Research Papers, Publications & Podcasts
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MindArm (Accepted August 2024): “MindArm: Mechanized Intelligent Non-Invasive Neuro-Driven Prosthetic Arm System”
Lead Author. Accepted at ICARCV, a graduate-level A-tier conference
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2403.19992 -
CognitiveArm: “Enabling Real-Time EEG-Controlled Prosthetic Arm Using Embodied Machine Learning”
Will be available on Cornell Arxiv in December 2024
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ix9kZ5tfdHgGIkdWVN4cWoSVPzhjti76/view?usp=sharing
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BRAVE: “Brain-Controlled Prosthetic Arm with Voice Integration and Embodied Learning for Enhanced Mobility,” endorsed by NYU Abu Dhabi
will be available on Cornell Arxiv in December 2024
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CCurjNuPJuBA4MtM0CJMZLBO7ReJFOV-/view?usp=sharing
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DC Quantum (2021–2023): Head Designer, Editor, Contributor; wrote articles on nuclear fusion, CRISPR, and COVID-19
School run magazine that caters to 1100 students annually
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NOVEM Magazine - An outlet during COVID times to express student passions and relevant issues of technology and media.
Designed completely from scratch on Word, the process took 50+ hours with visuals I created solely on Procreate.
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DC Science week - The best STEM stories of 2022 | Dialogue Central Podcast
Designed the logo, marketing campaigns for a debut Dubai College podcast and hosted multiple talks with hundreds of listeners
Pending Patents
• M. A. Ullah, M. Z. Nawaz, A. H. Chaudhry. Staged Differential Merge with Decoupled Membership, Quantity-Typed Valuation, and Ordering. U.S. Provisional Application No. 64/171,689, filed Oct. 2026.
• M. A. Ullah, M. Z. Nawaz, A. H. Chaudhry. Tiered Code Resolution with a Validation Gate on a Single Exit. U.S. Provisional Application No. 64/171,696, filed Oct. 2026.
teasers of my research
Initiatives
I have also audited CS textbooks distributed to rural schools in Pakistan and taught teachers how to implement AI into a curriculum expanding to 200k students/1900 schools in collaboration with The Citizens Foundation.
Basketball & football player of the year
In the news
https://gulfnews.com/uae/education/dubai-girl-finalist-in-100000-global-student-prize-1.104009963
Here is a link to the full interview of Dubai One (National UAE TV Channel):
https://lnkd.in/d_3J_a4X
Here is a link to the full interview of Dubai Eye (National Radio Channel):
https://lnkd.in/dyzsgD_6
https://gulfbusiness.com/hackathon-for-dubai-students-aims-to-spur-on-ai-interest/
https://campaignme.com/students-host-ai-competition-for-students/
https://twitter.com/EmiratesNBD_AE/status/1757749678383198221
https://www.instagram.com/emiratesnbd_ae/p/C3VB652MWYq/
More news coverage is available on the hackathon website https://www.uae-innovaite.com/in-the-news