# Rafeek Ghaly

> Rafeek Ghaly is a software engineer from Cairo and an AI & software engineering research assistant on Heritage.AI at The American University in Cairo. GEM Hackathon 2025 winner building GIS, SaaS, mobile and museum systems.

- Website: https://rafeekghaly.com
- Email: rafeekghaly@aucegypt.com
- CV (PDF): https://rafeekghaly.com/Rafeek_Ghaly_CV.pdf
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rafeekghaly/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rafeek.ghaly/
- Location: Cairo, Egypt

## Current roles

- **Research Assistant, AI & Software Engineering**, Heritage.AI · The American University in Cairo (Jul 2026 – Present): Researching and developing AI and software for cultural heritage documentation, digital museum experiences and visitor engagement, under Dr. Yasser El Shayeb. Heritage.AI is an AUC initiative with Alwaleed Philanthropies across Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
- **Co-Founder & Software Engineer**, Software studio, Cairo (2025 – Present): Co-founded a studio that designs, builds and deploys web and mobile systems for clients. Owns architecture, deployments and delivery; built One Person POV (opvgallery.com).
- **Technical Lead**, GEM Hackathon & Incubation (2025 – Present): Led development of the winning Digital Visitor Passport, then joined a 6-week incubation programme to take it toward production at the Grand Egyptian Museum.
- **R&D Contributor**, Cultural Heritage Systems (2025 – Present): GIS and digital heritage platforms under Dr. Yasser El Shayeb (Cairo University & AUC), with archaeologists and Japanese research teams.
- **Software Developer**, Kian Solutions (Jun – Oct 2025): Intern turned part-time. Flutter and React Native apps: the Scanify ordering app and kiosk, the Yalla ride-sharing app, GraphQL and REST on AWS Amplify.

## Education

- B.Sc. Computer & Communication Engineering, Cairo University (expected 2028)

## Selected work

- **Heritage.AI** (AI Research · AUC, 2026): Research assistant in AI & software engineering on responsible AI for museums in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, with AUC and Alwaleed Philanthropies.
- **GEM E-Passport** (1st Place · GEM Hackathon, 2025): A PWA for the Grand Egyptian Museum: scan artefact QR codes, collect stamps, export a printable passport.
- **Heritage Egypt** (GIS Platform, 2024) <https://heritage-egypt.info>: 200,000+ geospatial heritage records on PostgreSQL/PostGIS, with an interactive map of Old Cairo.
- **One Person POV** (Art E-Commerce, 2025) <https://opvgallery.com>: A production art gallery store with an admin dashboard, orders and local InstaPay payment flows.
- **Scanify** (Ordering App + Kiosk, 2025): Cart, checkout and real-time order flows for a restaurant ordering app and kiosk, built at Kian Solutions.
- **Yalla** (Ride-Sharing App, 2025): Ride management and backend integrations in Flutter and React Native, on GraphQL and AWS Amplify.
- **SK Martial Arts** (Gym Management System, 2025): QR attendance, class scheduling, loyalty and referrals across Flutter and React.
- **Heritage Quest** (Gamified Learning (EN/AR), 2025): A confidential client build: bilingual heritage quizzes with MCQ, swipe and multi-select rounds plus analytics.
- **Food Save Circle** (Startup · Red Bull Basement, 2024): Routing unsold university food to students at a discount. Top 10 at the Red Bull Basement Egypt national final.

## Awards and press

- Research Assistant · Heritage.AI: At the first Heritage.AI seminar, AUC, Cairo, October 2026.
- 1st Place · GEM Hackathon 2025: Technical lead of Team HACK100 at the Grand Egyptian Museum.
- Top 10 · Red Bull Basement: Pitching Food Save Circle at the Egypt national final.
- On Air · Al Shams TV: Talking AI, engineering and heritage on "Bel AI".
- On Air · Nile Culture TV: A guest on "Nawwart Masr".
- 3rd Place · 14th Research Day: Team Deviants, anomaly detection in IoT networks.

## Skills

Dart, TypeScript, Python, C++, Flutter, React, Next.js, GraphQL, Supabase, PostgreSQL, PostGIS, WebGL, Three.js, GIS, AI for cultural heritage