Dr. Ahmad Abo Absa (Aḥmad Abū ‘Absa) (أحمد أبو عبسة) was a renowned Palestinian engineer, educator, and researcher whose career was marked by academic distinction, deep commitment to his students, and groundbreaking work in signal processing and software engineering. Born on 1 April, 1983, in Gaza City, he completed his early education with honors and later enrolled at the Islamic University of Gaza, where he earned his BS in Communication and Control Engineering in 2005.

He went on to pursue advanced degrees in computer and communication sciences, earning an MS in Computer Science from the University of Northern Virginia in 2007 and a second MS in Communication Engineering from the Islamic University of Gaza in 2012. In 2018, he obtained his Ph.D. in Signal Processing Engineering from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) in Saudi Arabia. His published doctoral dissertation, Self-Learning Techniques for Arabic Speech Segmentation and Recognition, made substantial contributions to the growing field of Arabic speech technologies.

Dr. Abo Absa’s research interests included speech recognition, image processing, biomedical engineering, and machine learning. His work was widely published, including articles in IEEE Access and the Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering, where he co-authored papers on emotion recognition systems, ensemble-based classifiers, and optimization algorithms for communication systems.

He held numerous academic roles at the University of Palestine in Gaza, where he served as a lecturer, Head of the Software Engineering Department, and later, Dean of the College of Media and Internet Technology. He was a core contributor to the university’s iBridge Project, which aimed to align academic programs with labor market demands and support international software export initiatives.

Known as a gifted educator, Dr. Abo Absa taught a diverse set of subjects, including digital media, discrete mathematics, image processing, systems analysis, and operations research. Students admired him for his clarity, rigor, and sincere mentorship.

On 12 December 2023, Dr. Ahmad Hamdi Abo Absa was killed at the age of 40 by an Israeli tank missile shortly after his release from detention, which had lasted two days. His death marked a deep loss to the Palestinian academic and research communities.

Dr. Abo Absa is survived by his family and a lasting legacy of scholarship and dedication to education. His influence endures through his students, his scientific contributions, and the institutions he helped shape under challenging circumstances.