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For WorldQuant University student Sherif Ahmad Magdaldin, financial engineering is not confined to investment and risk management.

Sherif, a civil structural engineer from Egypt, has been exploring a different type of question: Can a mathematical framework developed to grow stock portfolios also help optimize urban development?

His answer is the subject of new research, which he presented virtually at the 10th International Conference on Interdisciplinary Research on Computer Science, Psychology, and Education (ICICPE), held Aug. 19-21, 2026, in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

“This project acts as a direct, practical application of the quantitative financial engineering methodologies from my Master of Science in Financial Engineering coursework at WorldQuant University,” Sherif says.

His work adapts Modern Portfolio Theory, developed by economist Harry Markowitz, to urban planning. Instead of treating stocks and bonds as portfolio assets, Sherif treats different types of development space—such as residential and commercial uses—as components of a portfolio. By considering the expected financial performance and relationships among those uses, his approach seeks to identify development configurations that balance potential returns with risk.

Sherif did not stop with an academic paper. He took the concept and built a working software implementation for the All Things Agentic Hackathon, a global challenge to build next-generation AI agents on Gemini and Google Cloud.

Sherif’s system combines a web-based analytics platform with a custom Autodesk Revit plug-in, allowing an optimized configuration generated by the mathematical model to be translated into a three-dimensional building model.

One challenge required adapting financial mathematics to the physical world. Portfolio optimization can produce negative allocations, reflecting the possibility of short-selling financial assets. A physical development, however, cannot contain negative square meters of a building type. Sherif addressed this by adding mathematical constraints that keep all allocations nonnegative and within the available site.

The project reflects Sherif's broader approach to financial engineering: Applying quantitative methods beyond their traditional boundaries. His work demonstrates how concepts from financial risk management can be reimagined as tools for addressing complex decisions in engineering and urban development.

Sherif started his career at Zagazig University in Egypt, where he earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering. He joined EgyptAir in 2004 and currently serves as Head of Software Engineering at EgyptAir Ground Services.

He completed WorldQuant University’s Data Science Lab in March 2026 and is scheduled to graduate from the Master of Science in Financial Engineering program in 2028.