During his doctoral studies, Lapsyhn entered a competition to exchange with Coventry University and partake in work experience at Delcam - a software company based in the Birmingham neighbourhood of Small Heath, an area of East Birmingham 'which has a significant and visible Muslim population.' He was accepted after coming in third place for his work on 3D modelling and computer programming. Lapshyn arrived in Birmingham on 24 April 2013, and stayed in a flat inside Delcam's headquarters. Colleagues described him as shy, yet polite.
