Amro Salman

I am currently enrolled in the Advanced Computer Science MPhil program at the University of Cambridge, and I will graduate by June 30th, 2025. My main interest in Computer Science is Machine Learning in general, particularly NLP. I am currently working on a research project called "Embedding Words as Regions" which highlights some limitations with embedding words as vectors and suggests a way to overcome those limitations. Additionally, In 2023, I worked on a research project that investigated how successful are model extraction attacks, on DistilBERT (Paper, code). I authored a paper based on the project, which was published at the ICLR conference (tiny track). Furthermore, The project won the “Best Graduation Project” award in the Engineering Department for the year 2023. This experience enriched my theoretical and practical knowledge in machine learning and NLP. I used different frameworks in Python (ex: Pytorch, Tensorflow and Hugging Face). I am also an experienced competitive programmer (see CV). I led my team to be the first Sudanese team to rank top 100 globally in the IEEEXtreme competitive programming competition. I am also ranked the best competitive programmer in Sudan in codeforces (around 1900 rating). As an experienced competitive programmer, I have a good grasp of various mathematical concepts which allows me to understand various machine learning concepts faster and at a deeper level. Moreover, I participated in many contests as a team member, which made me a great team player. I also presented multiple competitive programming sessions, and this polished my communication skills and made it easy for me to explain hard concepts in a simple and concise way. My professional journey was significantly harder than the average journey and it still is. My undergraduate studies were disrupted, and I finished in seven years instead of five, due to several political issues and protests against the dictatorial government of my country (Sudan). The hardest period in my life is the past year and a half. In April 2023, a war erupted in Sudan, and it started from where my hometown and university are located (Khartoum). I had to finish my last undergraduate year during the war, which was very difficult (physically, financially and emotionally). I also had to flee Sudan and seek refuge in the UK (my current status). I am proud that despite these difficulties, I was able to secure a full scholarship (which I was the only awardee for) at the University of Cambridge. This experience proves my dedication and motivation to excel in my career.