Resume

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Basics

Name Bakary Coulibaly
Label PhD Student, Electrical Engineering | Energy & AI Infrastructure
Email coulibalybakary.bc@gmail.com
Url https://bkcly.github.io
Summary PhD student in Electrical Engineering at Khalifa University studying the grid integration of AI data centers. M.S. in Electrical Engineering (Power & Energy) from The George Washington University, co-founder of Marché Pro, and designer of off-grid solar systems in Mali.

Work

  • 2026.01 - Present

    Abu Dhabi, UAE

    Graduate Teaching Assistant
    Khalifa University of Science and Technology
    Spring 2026: taught one of the two lab groups of ELEN 316 Microprocessor Systems & Applications (oversaw and graded lab work, supervised final projects, evaluated and graded final project presentations) and handled grading, exam proctoring and student questions for the lecture section. Fall 2026: TA for the ELEN 316 Microprocessors and Microcontrollers lecture (grading and exam proctoring) and ELEN 497 Senior Design Project I. About 40 students in total.
  • 2024.08 - 2025.08

    West Africa

    Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer
    Marché Pro
    Co-founded an early-stage startup that aggregated tenders across West Africa and helped companies bid on them. As Chief Operating Officer, ran day-to-day operations until stepping down in Aug 2025 to begin the PhD.
  • 2024.06 - 2024.08

    Bamako, Mali

    Off-Grid Solar Project Lead
    Independent Project
    Designed and led installation of three off-grid solar systems, including a 16.2 kW flagship system with 45 kWh of battery storage and an 8 kW inverter, reducing household dependence on diesel. Prepared power budgets, equipment selection, and cost estimates in OpenSolar and PVSol, complied with Malian safety standards, coordinated local technicians, and added remote monitoring.
  • 2022.10 - 2024.05

    Washington, DC

    Research Assistant
    Institute for Security and Conflict Studies - GWU
    Facilitated seminar courses for the US Department of Defense's Foreign Area Officers, compiling French resources and assisting in syllabus development.
  • 2020.08 - 2022.05

    Gaithersburg, MD

    Foreign Guest Researcher
    Heat Transfer and Alternative Energy Systems Group - NIST
    Conducted research and development in PV module testing, solar simulator lab renovation, and water heating technology evaluations, improving data analysis and testing efficiency.
  • 2020.01 - 2020.08

    Rockville, MD

    Student Aide
    IT Service Desk - Montgomery College
    Provided IT support during Montgomery College's transition to remote operations amid the COVID-19 pandemic, resolving technical issues and optimizing efficiency.
  • 2019.01 - 2019.07

    Rockville, MD

    Learning Assistant (Principles of Chemistry I & Precalculus)
    Montgomery College
    Principles of Chemistry I (Spring 2019) and Precalculus (Summer 2019): supported students in the lecture room, occasionally taught lectures, held office hours and review sessions, and helped students remotely through GroupMe before remote teaching became common; 100% pass rate under faculty mentorship.

Education

  • Present

    Abu Dhabi, UAE

    Doctor of Philosophy
    Khalifa University of Science and Technology
    Electrical Engineering
  • 2025.05

    Washington, DC

    Master of Science
    The George Washington University
    Electrical Engineering
    GPA: 3.75/4.00
  • 2023.05

    Washington, DC

    Bachelor of Science
    The George Washington University
    Computer Engineering
    Cum Laude
  • 2021.05

    Rockville, MD

    Associate of Science
    Montgomery College
    Computer Engineering
    Honors
  • 2017.06

    Bethesda, MD

    French Baccalaureate
    Lycée Rochambeau - French International School
    Honors, Mention Bien

Skills

Hardware
Microcontrollers
FPGAs
PCB Design
Altium
Cadence
LTspice
LabVIEW
3D Printing
Power & Energy Tools
PowerWorld
GAMS
OpenSolar
PVSol
MATLAB
AutoCAD
Fusion 360
Programming
Python (PyTorch, TensorFlow)
C/C++
Java
Verilog
Excel (VBA)
Linux

Languages

English
Native
French
Native
Bambara
Native
Spanish
Limited Working Proficiency
Arabic
Basic

Projects

  • 2022.01 - 2023.05
    AutoGrow
    Designed, prototyped, and implemented an off-grid automated gardening system with a 100W solar panel and 12V battery.
    • Designed custom PCB and integrated ESP32 microcontroller.
    • Implemented Micropython for low power soil moisture sensing and solenoid control.
    • Developed UI components using Dart and Flutter.
    • Four-person CompE/EE/CS/MechE team; swapped roles with the EE teammate to learn each other's field by taking on the power hardware while he took the code, and coached each other.
  • 2021.11 - 2022.05
    NIST: Testing Photovoltaic Modules
    Conducted PV module testing, EL imaging, and co-authored an ongoing research paper.
    • Led the electroluminescence test fixture from start to finish: parts research (80/20 aluminum framing), CAD design, team proposal, budget request, and build.
    • Developed Python scripts for automated EL image analysis, reducing processing time by 50%.
    • Tested 20+ solar panels for degradation analysis.

Awards