He credits UTD for offering an education that planted the seeds of his dream of creating what he calls the “Starbucks of dental care.”“I think the UTD education was foundational for my success at dental school and for my future,” Ahmed said. Ahmed founded the nationwide dental services business Ideal Dental and its parent company DECA Dental Group after graduating from UTD and Tufts University School of Dental Medicine. In 2013, Ahmed formed DECA Dental, and by 2016, he had nearly 60 North Texas locations. “That was something that drove me.”Today, DECA Dental manages nearly 200 practices in nine states and employs 2,000 people, including some 350 dentists. “He said that he wasn’t really connected to UTD, but that the campus visit was a great experience for him.