Ahlam (she/her) is Assistant Professor in the Department of Media, Art, and Performance at the University of Regina. Ahlam is an industrial designer, digital artist, and design educator specializing in digital design, cultural heritage preservation and accessibility. With expertise in 3D technologies, computational generative design, and digital humanities research, she’s dedicated to making heritage more accessible, particularly for Indigenous peoples and marginalized communities.
Ahlam completed her PhD in the IGS Program (Digital Arts and Humanities theme) at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan, where she was the 2020 Principal’s Research Chair Fellow. Her dissertation, co-supervised by Hussein Keshani and Karis Shearer, was titled “Seeing through Touch: Creating Inclusive Experiences for Blind and Partially-Sighted Museum Visitors with 3D Printing” and aims to improve the museum experience for those with visual impairments. Ahlam’s doctoral research was profiled in a UBC O story “Re-thinking Art and Accessibility.”
Before pursuing her Ph.D., Ahlam completed a Master of Art Studies focused on “Tactile Persian Miniature (Negargary) for Blind and Partially Sighted with a focus on Universal Design.” Prior to that, she earned a Bachelor of Industrial Design focused on “Design of a Vibratory Orthosis for Parkinson’s disease focused on User-Centered Design – UCD Method.”