Faculty Spotlight ~ Dr. Alireza Rahrooh
Dr.
Alireza Rahrooh came to UCF in 1994 from Penn State University and is
currently a Professor in the Department of Engineering Technology. He
received his bachelor’s (1979), master’s (1986), and his Ph.D. (1990) in
Electrical Engineering from the University of Akron in Ohio. In between his
bachelor and masters degrees, he served in the military in the Kurdistan
area, resulting in a five year gap in his education. He has industry
experience working with the
National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA),
Lucent Technologies/ Cirent Semiconductor, and has acted as a consultant.
Dr. Rahrooh explains that Engineering Technology is where design meets practical application. Graduates of the Engineering Technology program act as the liaison between the design engineers and the technicians that work on actual projects. There are currently about 600 students enrolled in the Engineering Technology program, and he noted the demand for graduates continues to rise.
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Rahrooh’s research interests include control theory (analog and digital), adaptive control, digital simulation, nonlinear dynamics and chaos, estimation and filtering, system identification, electromagnetic analysis using finite elements, and nondestructive testing. To translate this for our non-engineer readers, most physical systems are nonlinear in nature, and nonlinear systems have very complicated dynamics. Linearization and simulation of these systems help to predict the unpredictable behavior of such systems. Techniques derived from his study are currently being used by NASA and elsewhere. Dr. Rahrooh has won numerous awards and honors at the national, state, and university level, and received recognition from the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (IEEE) numerous times for his teaching and research. He is the Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator for several projects through NASA, NSF, and local interests.
“Teaching and learning is a mismatch. They
go together, but there are different people involved, and therefore they are
not always a fit. Learning can happen without teaching and teaching
can happen without learning. If I teach and you don't learn, I have
failed in some way.”
Ali Rahrooh’s passion, however, is teaching. “Teaching and learning is a mismatch,” he said. “Without learning, there is no teaching. Therefore, our responsibility is to find the best way to transfer information to our students. Doing so is as intellectually demanding as it is rewarding.” Although he has received offers to work in industry full time, he finds the interaction between student and teacher to be fulfilling.
With a mischievous twinkle in his eye, Dr. Rahrooh says that “his wife is married.” They have three children together. Among his other interests are horseback riding, fitness, remodeling and rebuilding classic cars, both inside and out. Below is a picture of a car he is very proud of, a 1973 Mach 1, a shining example of the last year that this rare Falcon-based Mustang was made.
June 2008
