KINGSTON, R.I. – July 1, 2025 – The rigidity of mathematics and the creativity of music might not initially appear to go hand in hand. Brian May — the Queen guitarist and noted astrophysicist — would likely disagree and he’d have some support from another guitarist in the College of Engineering at the University of Rhode Island. North Providence native Ahmad Almuhtaseb ’26, discovered a way to merge his dual passions—music and his computer engineering major.

Almuhtaseb and two classmates collaborated on a project to build a custom circuit board that functions as an amplifier for musical instruments. The project was in partnership with XMOS, a semiconductor company based in Bristol, England, as part of his senior capstone project.  

Electrical and computer engineering students at URI are required to take part in a capstone project. Students are assigned into groups to work from a list of proposals submitted by industry partners. This year, 53 students worked on 19 projects in the College of Engineering. The program provides seniors with an immersive hands-on experience collaborating with industry partners that can ultimately lead to job opportunities. 

For Almuhtaseb, the potential partnership was an ideal fusion of his love for music and his fascination with computer hardware.

“It was the only capstone proposal that was directly related to music and all the computer stuff that I was interested in,” he said. “In the back of my mind, it just felt like it perfectly united the two things that I was most passionate about as somebody who does computer engineering and somebody who likes to play guitar and mess with amps.”

“I pretty much poured my heart into the passion statement that coordinators use to place students into a particular project and, fortunately, I ended up getting picked!” said Almuhtaseb.

Creating and building things has always been a part of Almuhtaseb’s life. When he was a junior at North Providence High School, Almuhtaseb and his friends built their own computer.

What captivated him wasn’t just the components, but how they interacted seamlessly. He also found himself drawn to the visual outcome—the screen. He recalls being fascinated by how thousands of pixels could come together to form a single image. 

“When I was sitting there putting everything together, I was wondering how all these different components fit together to create this machine, especially since computer technology drives the modern world,” said Almuhtaseb.

When it came time to choose a college, Almuhtaseb selected URI’s computer engineering program for exactly that reason: his love of computer electronics and their importance in modern society.

While he’d tried his hand at guitar a few years earlier, it wasn’t until 2020, that his passion for music and composition began to harmonize. During the pandemic, with more time on his hands, he found himself drawn back to the instrument. He grabbed the pick and guitar and tried again.

“It’s been my primary outlet for the past three or four years,” said Almuhtaseb. 

So, when the time came for him to put his musical talents and his affection for all things electronic together, he jumped at the opportunity.  

The first step in the capstone project was determining how to adapt XMOS’ existing hardware into something that could take in, process, and put out musical notes.

“We needed to break down this board and see what we could take out of it but still allow it to function,” he explained. “We needed the bare basics—so just an input, output, and a processor to be able to read and interpret the data sent in from an instrument.”

Along with looking at the hardware, Almuhtaseb also had to create a schematic. But first, he needed to understand amp technology.

“After extensive research, I was able to jump into making some simulations on circuit boards using engineering software,” he said.

Through these simulations, Almuhtaseb tested whether the hardware could receive inputs from a guitar and accurately reproduce different cords and notes. His experience as a guitarist and knowing the nuances of each note, their frequency, and how it’s supposed to sound helped the project become a success.

Using simulation software Almuhtaseb was able to compare soundwaves that were pumped into the board, analyzed by the processor, and pumped out of the board. What he found was the soundwaves were similar, proving that his concept to create a functioning amplifier worked.

“It was the most fun I ever had working on a project because not only did my background in engineering help me but also my background in music,” he said. “For example, I was able to identify pitches by ear and use that to approximate the frequency of a repeating sine wave.”

While some may see music and math as incompatible, Almuhtaseb sees them as deeply connected. Whether he’s designing an amplifier or composing music, he believes both pursuits are rooted in creativity.

That’s something May would agree with. It took him 30 years to get his Ph.D. The reason for the gap was the fact that he was touring with the likes of Freddie Mercury. However the aging guitarist who built his own guitar as a teen— and later his own telescope— credits his musical talent and time touring the world, in helping him finally finish his studies.

“I do think there’s a lot of overlap between people involved in art and people involved in engineering. Not just in music, but in painting and literature, I think people are driven by this desire to create,” said Almuhtaseb.

Almuhtaseb is part of the International Engineering Program and is on track to go to Kyushu University in Japan this fall. As part of the program, he’ll first study abroad at the and then take part in an internship at a Japanese engineering company. Almuhtaseb will graduate with a dual bachelor’s degree in computer engineering and Global Language and Area Studies in the Japanese track.