For Mirage Hamdy, 2022 is proving to be a banner year.
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For Mirage Hamdy, 2022 is proving to be a banner year.
Hamdy is a lead user experience researcher with AT&T in Dallas, but she divides her time between there and Katy, where she works remotely. She grew up in Katy and graduated from Taylor High School in 2014. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington in 2018.
But that’s all prologue for what’s happened, and will happen, for Hamdy this year.
In January, Hamdy and her team received a patent for an automated equipment tracking system that field representatives can use in their technical repair jobs. She said she and her team filed the patent application in 2019. The process was quicker than she thought it would be, she said.
According to the patent application, “the tool tracking system can map the tool data to the vehicle and can determine when the tool is no longer mapped to the vehicle. This can be indicative of the tool having been left, for example, at the customer location. The tool tracking system can create an alert to inform the service technician and/or another entity that the tool is no longer mapped to the vehicle.”
On Saturday evening, Hamdy will compete in the Miss Arab USA Pageant, to be held in Phoenix. The pageant is back in business after the 2020 and 2021 pageants were canceled because of the pandemic.
According to its website, the Arab American Organization, a 501(c)3 organization, produces and manages the pageant, which serves as a charity fundraiser as the organization celebrates the Arab cultural heritage in the United States. The website said the pageant redefines the image of the Arab woman as a leader and a vital partner in the development of the Middle East and the world.
For someone with professional engineering and customer service credentials, participating in a beauty pageant is taking things in a new and different direction. This is the first pageant in which Hamdy has participated.
Hamdy said when she was younger, the idea of participating in a beauty pageant piqued her interest. But she said she never felt she fit into the “standard” beauty pageant mold. But she learned of the Miss Arab USA pageant, and was encouraged to enter. She’s now a pageant finalist.
Hamdy said one factor that stood out to her was how some past winners have done impactful work.
“That really stood out to me,” Hamdy said. “I feel very focused on my career in education. It’s nice to have an organization that really values that.”
The pageant features three mandatory categories—evening gown, interview, and a traditional gown reflecting the country of one’s heritage. Hamdy’s family is Egyptian.
Hamdy is the youngest of three daughters, all of whom live in the Katy area. She herself was born and raised in Southeast Texas. Their parents came to the United States from Cairo, Egypt. Hamdy said everyone in her family speaks fluent Arabic, and they return to visit Cairo every summer.
Asked what people in Katy might not know about Cairo, Hamdy said people tend to think only of the pyramids. But there’s more to Cairo than the pyramids. The Egyptian beaches are a favorite attraction for Hamdy. Yet while those beaches might be lovely, they are not the best attraction.
“The people are the best attraction,” Hamdy said. “The Egyptian people are known to be really, really funny. They are very welcoming. They will tell you a joke and make you laugh.”
The pageant features an optional talent category. Hamdy will participate and give a speech about humanity and software. She said humanity and software have similarities, but people are kinder to one than the other.
“We accept imperfections in software, but we don’t accept imperfections in people,” Namby said. “We’re constantly evolving, but we’re not patient with people in our lives or ourselves.”
The pageant, though exciting, is just one of the highlights about which Hamdy is excited. In August, she will earn her master’s degree in engineering management at Vanderbilt University.