Omeed Tehrani always dreamed of becoming a doctor. He had always wanted to positively impact the people around him. His cousin is a doctor and researcher working on cures to various diseases and viruses. When the Austin native got into The University of Texas, he was taking a pre-med route. Yet, as classes started piling up and his interest in technology grew, Tehrani became uncertain if a life in medicine was right for him.
“The way that I always thought about it before I transitioned out of medicine and into computer science was that the scale of impact that I could potentially make with computer science is just much larger,” Tehrani said. “As a doctor, maybe I could save 100 lives, (but) with computer science, potentially, I can make a product or do something that could save millions of lives, or, impact millions of lives.”
Tehrani then enrolled in the Integrated BS+MS program at UT Austin Computer Science, allowing him to earn his bachelor’s and master’s in computer science in just five years. The program offered Tehrani a chance to explore his interest in autonomous vehicles. Through Dr. Joydeep Biswas’ Planning, Search, and Reasoning class, Tehrani dived further into AV navigation. He would then publish a research paper with fellow student Mihir Suvarna. Released early last year, the paper explores ways for autonomous vehicles to navigate a drift situation—like hydroplaning.
“How do I optimally correct the angular velocity of this vehicle so that it doesn't basically run into a wall, hypothetically in a hydroplaning situation?” Tehrani said. “That's the big picture, because (in) a real-world setting that's extremely hard to actually do. There's so many variables you're missing, which is the same with autonomous vehicles.”
After exploring research, Tehrani set his eyes on entrepreneurship. He wanted to make something tangible — something that could help more people. He wanted to take his research experience, a world of collaboration and understanding how things work, and turn it into an opportunity to grow.
The perfect moment came to Tehrani when a friend offered him a position in a new start-up company shortly before graduation. What started as a dating app then transformed into a comprehensive search tool for local restaurants and events.
Nera was a search engine built specifically with students and new residents in mind—an AI trip advisor that could make specific recommendations for any type of occasion. The product would recommend itineraries and easy booking for local trendy restaurants and locations for photo sessions.
After many discussions, the team decided to go their separate ways, having simply outgrown the small start-up. Tehrani moved out of the city, and Nera is just a fond memory of the community he found in Austin’s startup scene—old college friends and new UT graduates all eager to build something new.
“It kind of taught me that the next time that I do something like this, I know exactly what to do (and) how to do it. And I would want to do it in Austin,” he said. “That's an honest fact, I would need to do it in Austin.”
Tehrani now works as a software engineer based in North Texas. Where the excitement of building a start-up combines with the stability of academic research. His desire to help people still drives him in his career and future plans. His desire to make a difference and create positive change is a driving force in his career.
“It's funny because people try to figure things out really early, and you can't do that,” Tehrani said. “Just have the thought that you could figure this out and then just run with it, and that's what I did. I was like, ‘I'm gonna figure this out, and I don't know how I'm gonna make that impact, but I'm gonna eventually do it.’”