I’m Mo, a software engineer based in Nottingham, UK. I build web applications and cloud tools, with a particular interest in cloud security and digital forensics. I’m currently completing an MSc in Cyber Security at Nottingham Trent University, and I sometimes call myself “the forever student”. There’s usually something new I want to understand. Lately, that has included quantum computing.
Growing up, I wanted to be a pilot. Later, civil engineering caught my attention. My father is a real estate developer, so construction was much closer to home, and I began to picture myself studying it. Software engineering entered the picture through a university admissions email.
In late 2020, a few months after finishing secondary school, I decided I wanted to study in Istanbul. I was 16, the pandemic was still going on, and I started looking into universities in Türkiye. Istanbul Aydın University caught my interest, and I applied for civil engineering. I had applied too late for that intake, though, and the university wasn’t accepting new undergraduate students in spring. The admissions team told me to apply again for September 2021.
I waited and submitted another application in May. A few weeks later, someone from admissions emailed to say there was a place available on the software engineering course and asked whether I was interested. I wasn’t sure. Until then, I had been preparing to study something quite different.
I decided to read about the course before answering. The more I looked into it, the more interested I became, and eventually I accepted. I’d also started a foundation course at the University of Westminster, but left before completing it as I prepared to move to Istanbul Aydın University. My career plans had already changed twice, and I hadn’t even started my undergraduate degree.
The first semester was tough. Some of my classmates had spent years learning to code. I was trying to get comfortable with programming, data structures and subjects I hadn’t prepared for at school. It was difficult to feel confident when people around me already seemed familiar with so much of it.
Things started to improve in my second year. By my third, my grades had improved considerably. During my third and fourth years, cloud computing and cyber security became the areas I wanted to spend more time on.
Noor, a coursemate and AWS Community Builder, helped turn my awareness of AWS into a real interest in learning it. He encouraged me to take the Cloud Practitioner certification, which I passed in February 2025. Around that time, I also attended my first AWS event in Istanbul.
In my final year, my network and cloud security lecturer took an interest in my work. He later used my coursework project in some of the questions on our final exam. I had gone from struggling to keep up to seeing something I had worked on appear in the exam paper.
I graduated in July 2025 with the equivalent of a 2:1. I had wanted a first, so there was disappointment alongside the pride. I was pleased with how much I had improved, even if the final result wasn’t quite what I’d hoped for.
In January 2026, I started my MSc in Cyber Security at Nottingham Trent University. For my dissertation, I built ForensicReadyLambda, a Python toolkit focused on a practical question: if an incident happens in an AWS Lambda application, will the evidence needed to investigate it actually be there?
The work focused on preparing before an incident. The toolkit checks logging configuration, brings together CloudWatch and CloudTrail records to reconstruct what happened, and preserves the collected evidence with checks to help detect later changes. I worked within the APIs available to AWS customers.
I evaluated it across four controlled attack scenarios. With the required logging configured, it captured every expected evidence item in each scenario. Each comparison configuration missed one.
The dissertation received a Mid Distinction. I’m now looking at developing the work into a research paper, while completing the rest of my master’s.
Alongside my studies, I lead NTU’s AWS Student Builder Group. Our core team is now in place, and we’re preparing for our first event. So far, the work has included recruiting the team and planning how we’ll bring students together to learn about AWS.
I also volunteer as a HealthyNTU Champion. I’ve chosen to contribute written content on settling into university, international students’ mental health, men’s mental health and looking after yourself over the winter break. I’m working with the wellbeing team to develop those topics.
I write about cloud security and AI on Medium, and I’m continuing to develop my skills in AI and machine learning. My current certification plans include CompTIA Security+, CCNA and AWS Solutions Architect Associate.
More recently, I started a small quantum computing verification project using Qiskit and MQT QCEC. My first experiment compared the effects of relative and global phase on Bell states. It’s early work, and I’m learning the subject through small experiments.
I’m also exploring funded PhD opportunities for 2027. My interests include cloud security and digital forensics, and I’ve been looking into projects on trustworthy AI and generating attack scenarios for cyber security training. I’m still exploring which direction to pursue.
Outside university and technical work, I spend a lot of time reading. My current favourite is Atatürk’s The Great Speech, which I picked up in a shop during a visit to Istanbul. I also love going to the gym and running, usually covering around 40 to 50 km a week. In September 2026, I completed the Robin Hood Half Marathon in Nottingham.
Thank you for reading. Love from Mo.