College of Engineering

New Faculty Research Seminars

Each fall the College of Engineering presents its New Faculty Research Seminar Series Professors describe their work and future research plans. The seminar series also explores opportunities for collaboration. Engineering graduate and undergraduate students as well as colleagues from other disciplines are encouraged to attend.

Click the professor’s name to see more information.

» Fall 2021
- Monday, Oct. 18 | 4:30 p.m.—5:30 p.m. | Syed Ali Asad Rizvi, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering
  - Title: Reinforcement learning and control in real-world environments
  - General Research Areas: Control theory Reinforcement learning • Autonomous systems • Cyber-physical systems • Applications in autonomous vehicles, energy systems, building HVAC systems, and electric motor drives
- Thursday, Oct. 21 | 4:30 p.m.—5:30 p.m. | Nan Chen,D., Assistant Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering
  - Title: Batteries on the move: overload mitigation with mobile and connected electric vehicle
  - General Research Areas: Electrical vehicle charging integration in smart grid Mobile vehicle-to-grid technique • Demand forecasting scheme for smart grid • Demand response design for smart grid • Machine learning based resource allocation scheme for smart grid • Next-generation wireless communication • Resource management for vehicular communication
- Thursday, Oct. 28 | 4:30 p.m.—5:30 p.m. | Mazen Hussein,D., Assistant Professor, General & Basic Engineering
  - Title: Container terminal operations and block relocation problem
  - General Research Areas: Freight modeling and logistics Facilities planning and material handling • Optimization and simulation modeling • Production planning and control • Reverse logistics & recycling • Modern manufacturing systems • Microalloying and mechanical behavior.
» Fall 2020
- Thursday, Oct. 22 | 4:30—5:30 p.m. | Tarek Elfouly, Ph.D., Associate Professor - Electrical & Computer Engineering
  - Title: Structural health monitoring (SHM) using wireless sensor networks (WSNs)
  - General Research Areas: Wireless Networks • Wireless sensor networks • Structure health monitoring •Machine learning and its applications • ehealth and mHealth • Assistive technologies
- Tuesday, Oct. 27 | 4:30—5:30 p.m. | Rory Roberts, Ph.D., Associate Professor - Mechanical Engineering
  - Title: Design and Optimization of Multidisciplinary Dynamic System
  - General Research Areas: Air breathing propulsion • Aircraft Thermal management • Power systems for aerospace and spaced-based systems • Fuel cells • Electric Propulsion • Hypersonic power and thermal management • Dynamic modeling of multidisciplinary systems • Design and optimization of dynamic systems and control
- Thursday, Nov. 5 | 4:30—5:30 p.m. | Shirin Noei, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor - Center for Energy Systems Research
  - Title: Longitudinal Dynamics in Traffic Microsimulation
  - General Research Areas: Connected Autonomous Vehicles • Intelligent Transportation Systems • Networked Control Systems • Cyber-Physical Systems • Traffic Operation
- Tuesday, Nov. 10 | 4:30—5:30 p.m. | Arman Sargolzaei, Ph.D., Assistant Professor - Mechanical Engineering
  - Title: Security of Networked Control Systems
  - General Research Areas: Linear and Nonlinear Control Theory • Security of Networked Control Systems • Safety and Security of Connected and Autonomous Vehicles • Control of Multi-Agent Systems • Cyber-Physical Systems
- Monday, Nov. 16 | 4:30—5:30 p.m. | John Tester, Ph.D., Associate Professor - General & Basic Engineering
  - Title: M4D: Manufacturing for Design’ & Additive Manufacturing
  - General Research Areas: Engineering Education • Engineering Management • Additive Manufacturing • Design for Manufacturing •Systems Engineering • Human Biomechanics • Engineering Systems Test and EvaluationQatar University, and is a senior member of the IEEE society.
- Tuesday, Nov. 17 | 4:30—5:30 p.m. | Charles Van Neste, Ph.D., Assistant Professor - Electrical & Computer Engineering
  - Title: A New Wireless: Sending Power Over and Through Surfaces
  - General Research Areas: Alternative forms of energy generation and transmission with a major focus in wireless and quasi-wireless power transfer • High frequency inverter design • Electronic instrumentation • Electromagnetic interactions
» Fall 2019
- Wednesday, Sept. 24 | 4:30-5:30 p.m. | Prescott Hall, Room 225: Muhammad Ismail, Ph.D., Assistant Professor - Computer Science
  - Title: Towards Connected, Smart, and Secure Cyber-Physical Critical Infrastructures
  - General Research Areas: Cyber-physical security, networking, smart grids, blockchain, resource allocation, machine learning, optimization, stochastic modeling
- Thursday, Oct. 3 | 4:30-5:30 p.m. | Prescott Hall, Room 225: Susmit Shannigrahi, Ph.D., Assistant Professor - Computer Science
  - Title: The Network of Everything – Challenges and Opportunities
  - General Research Areas: Computer Networks, Future Internet Architectures, Networking IoT Devices, Future Mobile Communications
- Tuesday, Oct. 8 | 4:30-5:30 p.m. | Prescott Hall, Room 225: Denis Ulybyshev, Ph.D., Assistant Professor - Computer Science
  - Title: Data Protection in Transit and at Rest with Leakage Detection
  - General Research Areas: Data Privacy, Database / Cloud / OS / Web security, Information Retrieval (search engines, Search Engine Optimization), SCADA systems / Manufacturing Execution Systems, Blockchain-based Technologies, Machine Learning (recommendation systems)
- Tuesday, Oct. 29 | 4:30-5:30 p.m. | Prescott Hall, Room 225: Mohammad Albakri, Ph.D., Assistant Professor - Mechanical Engineering
  - Title: Part Authentication and Quality Control for Additive Manufacturing via Smart Vibrations
  - General Research Areas: Structural dynamics and smart materials with applications in nondestructive evaluation and advanced manufacturing
- Wednesday, Oct. 30 | 3:30-4:30 p.m. | Prescott Hall, Room 225: Maanak Gupta Ph.D., Assistant Professor - Computer Science
  - Title: Secure Cloud Assisted Smart Cars
  - General Research Areas: Foundational Cyber and Computer Security, Access Control Models, Formal Analysis, Secure Cyber Physical Systems, Smart and Connected Cars, Internet of Things, AI and Machine Learning assisted Security Solutions, Malware Clustering and Classification
- Wednesday, Nov. 13 | 4:30-5:30 p.m. | Prescott Hall, Room 225: Akond Rahman Ph.D., Assistant Professor - Computer Science
  - Title: Towards Secure Software Development
  - General Research Areas: DevOps, Software Analytics, and Software Security. To conduct my research activities I have relied on static analysis, qualitative analysis, statistical methods, and supervised and unsupervised learning techniques
» Fall 2018
- Thursday, Nov. 8, Prescott Hall 225: Tim Huff, Ph.D. – Civil and Environmental Engineering
  - Title: Seismic Hazard and Seismic Design Strategies for Bridges in the New Madrid Seismic Zone
  - General Research Areas along with Consulting: Bridge design, and earthquake engineering
- Wednesday, Nov. 14, Prescott Hall 225: JW Bruce, Ph.D. – Electrical and Computer Engineering
  - Title: Survey of Embedded Computer Systems Research
  - General Research Areas: Integrated circuit design, sensor networks, integration of unmanned aerial vehicles into the national airspace and quantum computing
» Fall 2017
- Tuesday, Oct. 3: Yunbo "Will" Zhang, Ph.D. - Mechanical Engineering
  - Title: Design for Additive Manufacturing: Towards Direct Digital Manufacturing
  - General Research Areas: Design for additive manufacturing, computer-aided design and manufacturing, human-centered design and manufacturing, and geometric and solid modeling
- Tuesday, Nov. 7: Charles Van Neste, Ph.D. - Center for Energy Systems Research
  - Title: Quasi-Wireless Capacitive Power Transfer and Its Applications
  - General Research Areas: Wireless and quasi-Wireless power transfer, unipolar capacitive and single wire systems, high frequency inverter design, alternative energy harvesting, electronic instrumentation, electromagnetic interactions
- Thursday, Nov. 16: Ahmad Vaselbehagh, Ph.D. - Mechanical Engineering
  - Title: Wind Farm Layout Optimization
  - General Research Areas: Hydrodynamics of mechanical energy storage technologies, particularly, underwater energy storage plants
» Fall 2016
- Tuesday, Nov. 8: Venkat Padmanabhan, Ph.D. - Chemical Engineering
  - Title: Understanding Soft Matter: From Polymer Nanocomposites to Caenorhabditis Elegans
  - General Research Areas: Self-assembly of nanoparticles in polymer matrix, polymer nanocomposite films for organic photovoltaics, and biomechanics of Caenorhabditis elegans
- Thursday, Nov. 10: Pingen Chen, Ph.D. - Mechanical Engineering
  - Title: Clean, Efficient and Sustainable Diesel Engine Technologies
  - General Research Areas: Hybrid powertrain, internal combustion engines, alternative and renewable fuels, and intelligent transportation systems
- Thursday, Nov. 14: Duckbong Kim, Ph.D. - Manufacturing and Engineering Technology
  - Title: Education and Research Opportunities in Smart Manufacturing and Data Analytics
  - General Research Areas: Advanced manufacturing technologies, such as additive manufacturing, smart manufacturing and sustainable manufacturing
» Fall 2015
- Thursday, Oct. 1: Liqun (Laura) Zhang, Ph.D. - Chemical Engineering
  - Title: Investigating Model Asphalts and Transmembrane Protein Plexin Using Molecular Dynamics Simulations
  - General Research Areas: Structure, dynamics and functions of proteins and engineering materials using molecular dynamics simulation method
- Wednesday, Oct. 21: Daniel VandenBerge, Ph.D. - Civil and Environmental Engineering
  - Title: Rapid Drawdown Stability Analysis using the Finite Element Method
  - General Research Areas: Slope stability analysis, soil shear strength, behavior of compacted clays and probabilistic methods in geotechnical engineering
- Tuesday, Nov. 10: ChaBum Lee, Ph.D. - Mechanical Engineering
  - Title: Precision metrology and manufacturing for smart materials and structures
  - General Research Areas: Precision manufacturing and metrology technology including optical measurement, sensors and actuators, smart materials and structures, precision machining, and optical analysis and fabrication of diffractive optical components
- Thursdays, Nov. 19: Mohammad Rahman, Ph.D. - Computer Science
  - Title: Automated Formal Analytics for Smart Grid Security and Resiliency
  - General Research Areas: Network and information security analytics and automation, policy verification and threat analytics, risk assessment and security hardening, dependable management of cyber-physical systems
» Fall 2014
- Monday, Oct. 27: Laura H. Arias Chavez, Ph.D. - Chemical Engineering
  - Title: Re-Designing Membranes: Electrospun Nanofibers for Control of Structure and Material Properties
  - General Research Areas: Green Energy Production, Decentralized and Low Energy Water Treatment, Desalination, and Reclamation of Energy and Materials from Waste Streams
- Thursday, Nov. 13: Ehsan Languri, Ph.D. - Mechanical Engineering
  - Title: Microencapsulated Phase Change Materials (MPCMs) for Energy Efficiency Enhancement
  - General Research Areas: Energy Conservation and Storage Systems, Desalination Technologies
- Monday, Nov. 17: Hicham Chaouiu, Ph.D. - Electrical and Computer Engineering
  - Title: Adaptive Learning Based Control Design for Nonlinear Dynamic Systems under Structured and Unstructured Uncertainties
  - General Research Areas: Adaptive and Nonlinear Control Theory, Intelligent Control, Robotics, Mechatronics, Electric Motor Drives, Energy Storage and Management, and FPGA Implementation
- Thursday, Nov. 20: Pezhman Shirvanian, Ph.D. - Mechanical Engineering
  - Title: New Concepts in PEM Fuel Cell Catalysis: Experimental and Theoretical Approach
  - General Research Areas: Energy Storage, Generation and Conversion Systems
» Fall 2013
- Thursday, Oct. 17: Matthew Yarnold, Ph.D. - Civil and Environmental Engineering
  - Title: Structural Identification & Structural Health Monitoring of Bridge Structures
  - General Research Areas: Structural Identification and Structural Health Monitoring
- Tuesday, Oct. 22: Steve Anton, Ph.D. - Mechanical Engineering
  - Title: Multifunctional and Multi-Source Energy Harvesting: The Development of Autonomous Low-Power Electronics
  - General Research Areas: Smart Materials, Vibrations, Energy Harvesting, Structural Health Monitoring, Robotics-based STEM Education
- Thursday, Oct. 31: Jeffrey Rice, Ph.D. - Chemical Engineering
  - Title: Development of Novel Protein and Biological Engineering Techniques
  - General Research Areas: Protein and Biological Engineering
- Monday, Nov. 4: Tania Datta, Ph.D. - Civil and Environmental Engineering
  - Title: Enhanced Biological Phosphorous Removal in Aerated-anoxic Activated Sludge Systems
  - General Research Areas: Biological Wastewater Treatment, Environmental Microbiology, Resource Recovery from Organic Waste, Role of Microbes in Aquatic Ecosystems
- Tuesday, Nov. 12: Jennifer Pascal, Ph.D. - Chemical Engineering
  - Title: Multiscale Modeling of Drug Delivery to Tumors Enhanced by Applied Electrical Fields
  - General Research Areas: Mathematical/Computational Modeling of Biological Systems with Applied Electrical Fields
- Monday, Nov. 25: Awni Qasaimeh, Ph.D. - Manufacturing and Engineering Technology
  - Title: Digital Human Modeling for Ergonomic Assessment of Patient Lifting in Hospitals
  - General Research Areas: Electronics manufacturing, Lean Manufacturing, Ergonomics in Healthcare
- Tuesday, Dec. 3: Mohamed Mahmoud, Ph.D. - Electrical and Computer Engineering
  - Title: Efficient Security Protocols for Wireless Networks
  - General Research Areas: Network Security and Privacy Preservation
- Thursday, Dec. 5: Indranil Bhattacharya, Ph.D. - Electrical and Computer Engineering
  - Title: Design and Modeling of Very-high Efficiency Multijunction Solar Cells and Future Research Direction
  - General Research Areas: High-efficiency Solar Cells, Battery (Li-air/ion, Al-air/ion), Semiconductor Electronics, Photonics and Optics, Electromagnetics, Power Electronics, Medical Electronics