In this edition of the Business Insights Series, I had the opportunity to sit down with Muhammad Arham, a final-year robotics engineering student at National University of Sciences & Technology in Pakistan whose journey blends ambition, curiosity, and a remarkable breadth of skills. His story reflects how early passions, academic leadership, and hands-on problem-solving have intertwined over the years.
From the confident young debater who captured a national title before his teens, to the student leader overseeing diverse university organizations, and now to the engineer designing a hospital sterilization robot aimed at saving lives, Muhammad’s path reflects a rare harmony of technical precision and human-centered purpose. He is as comfortable addressing a crowded auditorium as he is fine-tuning code on a microcontroller, and that dual fluency shapes everything he does.
Our conversation went deep into the experiences that shaped his mindset, from the challenges of balancing leadership with rigorous engineering studies, to the creative persistence needed for funding and developing student-led innovation. We explored how a childhood fascination with building and tinkering matured into a disciplined mission: to create technology that is not only functional but meaningfully improves lives.
Leading the student community
Muhammad’s leadership role as the President and Founder of KARMA, leading the largest student lead initiative for the relief of Palestinians known as the Gaza Aid Project and as Secretary General for SPCS&M and SPAL places him at the helm of multiple university clubs, ranging from community service initiatives to robotics teams, cultural groups, and special interest societies. This position involves coordinating complex calendars, mediating between club leaders with differing priorities, managing resources, and inspiring members to keep pushing for excellence.
“From a very small age, I started participating in different co-curricular activities, and now I want to create the same opportunities for my juniors to come forward and lead.”
His commitment to extracurricular growth stems from a personal history rich with participation and achievement, most notably winning a national debate competition at just eight years old, an early milestone that taught him the value of communication, strategic thinking, and confidence under pressure. These skills have since shaped the way he mentors juniors, designs engaging events, and advocates for a more vibrant student life. Muhammad has been instrumental in launching new initiatives, streamlining club operations, and securing support for underrepresented groups on campus. Balancing leadership with his demanding engineering studies, he exemplifies how academic rigor and active community engagement can enrich each other, creating a stronger, more dynamic university culture.
Revolutionizing hospital sanitation
Muhammad’s final-year project aims to tackle a serious healthcare issue: the 35% disease retention rate among hospital sanitation workers, a figure that highlights the urgent need for safer cleaning methods in high-risk environments. This is an academic challenge with real-world consequences for patient and worker safety.
“Our main focus would be on making a robot that can communicate with the patient, that can direct the patient with the administration, as well as perform the tasks including the disinfection of the floors.”
The vision goes far beyond a simple cleaning machine. This sterilization robot is being purpose-built for bone marrow transplant centers and ICUs, areas where infection control is absolutely critical. Its planned features include UV-based cleaning, air fumigation systems to reduce airborne pathogens, and a low-profile design capable of reaching spaces as small as 1.5 inches high, where bacteria can thrive undisturbed. Muhammad and his team are engineering it to handle multiple tasks autonomously, from navigating around sensitive equipment to providing basic communication assistance to patients.
What makes this especially compelling is the combination of technical ambition and societal impact. If successful, this device could make hospitals cleaner while also redefining best practices in medical sanitation, potentially influencing policy and inspiring similar solutions worldwide. Partnering with a semi-government hospital for real-world testing, Muhammad is currently refining the design with a goal of having a functional prototype ready by the end of the year. This effort, if brought to completion, could become a model for how student-led innovation can drive meaningful change in healthcare environments.
Navigating funding and equipment hurdles
Like many student innovators, Muhammad sees financial challenges as a puzzle to solve rather than a roadblock. Developing advanced medical robotics demands resources, high-precision motors, Lidar sensors, and specialized UV sterilization units, many of which need to be imported and can quickly escalate costs.
“The university gives… but it’s not that much that you can make the whole project. You have to invest on your own, or you can get the funding from there.”
Undeterred, Muhammad is actively pursuing creative funding avenues. One organization has already shown interest in supporting his work, and he’s crafting a targeted outreach plan to equipment suppliers in hopes of securing sponsorship deals, donated samples, or discounted components.
He sees these conversations as short-term solutions that can also serve as the seeds for lasting partnerships capable of strengthening future production runs. For now, his team is resourcefully borrowing components from the university’s labs to keep the prototyping phase moving. Their determination to eventually secure their own hardware is fueled by the vision of having full control over design, testing, and ultimately, delivering a solution that could make hospitals safer for countless people.
Passion born at home
Muhammad’s fascination with building began in childhood and has been a defining thread throughout his life. In a home where creativity and resourcefulness were quietly nurtured, he would often spend hours dismantling household objects, reimagining how they could work, and experimenting with tools and components that most children his age would never touch.
“Since childhood, I was into this stuff too much… I made an incubator, cages, electronic stuff for the birds, automatic bulbs, and temperature switching sensors.”
These projects served as formative experiences that honed his ability to think critically, work through trial and error, and translate an idea into a tangible, working system. They laid the groundwork for the disciplined engineering mindset he carries today. Encouraged by the influence of a family friend already immersed in robotics, Muhammad gradually progressed from building basic circuits to developing complex microcontroller-based systems.
His skills expanded with each creation: from Arduino prototypes that taught him coding logic, to Raspberry Pi builds that introduced him to advanced programming, to ESP modules enabling wireless connectivity. Now, with Jetson powering his latest work, his portfolio includes a fruit-plucking robot designed for agricultural efficiency, a mobile robot completed during his internship at the National Center of Physics, and multiple home automation prototypes, all clear expressions of a curiosity that never stopped growing, paired with the technical discipline to bring that curiosity to life.
This early hands-on exploration aligns with research showing that early exposure to engineering encourages children to think critically, test ideas, and persist through trial and error, building both resilience and confidence. Studies demonstrate that children are natural builders, tinkerers, explorers, and problem-solvers, and when they engage in these activities, they are already practicing the kinds of thinking that real engineers use every day.
Looking ahead
Muhammad plans to pursue a master’s degree in automotive automation abroad, aiming to deepen his expertise in advanced robotics, intelligent vehicle systems, and industrial automation. This next academic chapter focuses on technical mastery while also expanding his worldview and engaging with global engineering challenges.
“My plan is to pursue a master’s in automotive automation, building on my mainstream focus in automation and advancing into this specialised field,” he told me, underlining his commitment to specialising in this fast-evolving field.
Following his master’s, Muhammad intends to explore law studies, an unconventional but strategic choice that would combine technical insight with a deep understanding of regulatory frameworks, intellectual property rights, and compliance issues. These skills could position him uniquely at the intersection of technology, policy, and innovation.
While he has no interest in entering politics, he sees clear value in multidisciplinary expertise for leaders who want to influence how emerging technologies are developed, governed, and integrated into society. This forward-looking approach reflects a recognition that in tomorrow’s tech landscape, innovation will require not only engineering skill but also fluency in the legal and ethical dimensions that shape its application.
Conclusion: Innovation with purpose
Muhammad’s journey shows how leadership, technical skill, and personal passion can align to create solutions with real-world impact. His hospital sterilization robot serves as a potential blueprint for how young innovators can address pressing healthcare challenges. By combining meticulous engineering with a deep understanding of user needs, he’s demonstrating what’s possible when ambition meets purpose.
“Even if it’s a student project, we’re working as if it’s a real product that will be used in hospitals,” he shared, reflecting his team’s professional mindset.
Research supports the practical impact of student innovation. Student-led projects have the power to challenge the status quo, push boundaries, and embrace creativity, transforming students into architects of change. Working on initiatives with real-world implications helps students develop a stronger sense of purpose, sharpen critical thinking, and contribute meaningfully to society.
For innovators and business leaders, his story is a reminder that great ideas need more than technical feasibility, they require strategic partnerships, well-structured funding plans, and a clear commercialization roadmap to succeed beyond the lab. His example underscores the importance of connecting with the right mentors, suppliers, and regulatory experts early in the process.
About the Author
Vlad writes about automation, operations, and the little tweaks that make a big difference in how businesses run. A former game designer turned founder, he now helps teams fix broken workflows and spot the revenue leaks hiding in plain sight.
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