Zeeshan Ahmed grew up the son of a mechanical engineer. “My father got his master’s in machine design in the 1970s,” Zeeshan said. “I chose to study civil engineering instead because I wanted to design structures.”

His father started a small manufacturing business in Pakistan, and Zeeshan joined him. But it wasn’t going so well. “Like most of us engineers, we’re not trained as businessmen or entrepreneurs,” Zeeshan said. “We have plenty of technical knowledge, but we can’t connect it to the real world.”

In 2017, Zeeshan’s father died. Zeeshan tried to carry on with the business, but it failed within two years. It was the lowest point in his life.

Help came from an unexpected place. “My wife asked me one day, ‘why don’t you become a mechanical engineer?’” Zeeshan said. “She had been to the USA and had heard about Purdue, that it was a very good university. I said, ‘I’m 40 years old, how can I?’”

Zeeshan’s wife encouraged him to try an online class from Purdue’s Online Master’s in Mechanical Engineering, the #1-ranked online master’s in the world. “The first course I took was AI in Thermal Systems,” he remembers. “My whole perspective changed immediately. The way it was taught completely opened up my brain. I was hooked!”

Next up was Heat Transfer. “I loved that class,” he said. “I can now speak confidently about the heat equation, the law of thermodynamics. If I go to a consultant to talk about thermal systems, I probably know more than him!”

Zeeshan fit into online education like a hand in a glove. “I would take a half-day off Friday, and then take the weekend to fully give my time to the university,” he said. “I had a nice room with a table, and I would go through the lectures and do my assignments. It was actually a lot of fun! I much prefer online lectures, because if I’m having a problem I can rewind and go through it again and again until I get it.”

Even living nine time zones apart couldn’t dampen his enthusiasm. “It was never a problem participating in class,” he said. “The professors were always very good corresponding with me. For group projects, we had Slack and a WhatsApp group; it was always very interactive. And I could always reach out to the graduate office if I had any questions; I never felt like I was on my own.”

Zeeshan started seeing dividends immediately from his studies. He helped to found a company called Indus Metal Systems, specializing in large-scale steel and pre-engineered buildings like warehouses and office parks. “The business grew 10 times larger within three years,” he said. “The education I received gave me not only technical knowledge, but more importantly the confidence to think differently, design systems, develop machinery, and completely re-engineer the manufacturing processes within my factory.”

Zeeshan attributes his success to the breadth and depth of Purdue’s education. “The Online Master’s is so flexible,” he said. “I can take classes in industrial engineering, in mathematics, in product design, in civil engineering. Everything I’m learning is immediately applicable to my business. The degree requires 10 classes, but I ended up doing 15 or 16 because I just couldn’t stop learning!”

He also appreciated the confidence given him by Purdue’s faculty. “All the professors at Purdue are amazing,” he said. “They are helpful. They are knowledgeable. And they’re not afraid to give you a project that is just a little outside your comfort zone. They want you to think big!”

For Zeeshan, that ambition was just what he needed. “The confidence that Purdue has given me speaks volumes,” he said. “Whenever I am in the room, it’s amazing how the clients respect that I am a Purdue graduate, with a Master’s degree in mechanical engineering. I can’t thank Purdue enough for turning my life around.”

Learn more about Purdue’s Online Master’s in Mechanical Engineering: https://purdue.edu/ME/Online

Writer: Jared Pike, jaredpike@purdue.edu, 765-496-0374