Ahmed is a Program Director for the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). His focus at ARPA-E is on potentially transformative research & development to enable commercial fusion energy. He has also been at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) for a number of years where he is a Distinguished Research Fellow and Principal Research Physicist. He also served as the Head of the Advanced Diagnostics Development Division. He has pursued the development of advanced lasers, X-rays, and other diagnostics supporting microelectronics and quantum computing, high-energy-density plasmas, and magnetic fusion plasma research. Previously, he served as the Deputy Director for the public-private Innovation Network for Fusion Energy partnership, where he planned, directed, and evaluated research activities in partnership with national labs, universities, and private industries.
Ahmed is from Burkina Faso in West Africa. He earned his Diplôme d'Études Universitaires Générale from the University of Ouagadougou, his Bachelor in Physics from the University of Montana, and his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Iowa. He has more than 140 publications out in the world and frequently gives talks as an expert in fusion energy and plasma physics.
