In today’s post we are thrilled to highlight Dr. Afshin Rahimi, PhD, PEng, SMIEEE, a FEAS graduate alum and Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical, Automotive and Materials Engineering at the University of Windsor. Afshin shares insightful advice for our graduate students and postdocs to help them succeed in their careers.
👉 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤
Afshin affirms that developing a quality faculty position application package takes time and effort. Students and postdocs should not hesitate to ask for help reviewing their application. He suggests using the feedback from each of their applications to improve their writing skills. Armed with excellent writing and research skills, Afshin won numerous scholarships and awards during his time at Toronto Metropolitan University including the Vanier CGS fellowship and the C. Ravi Ravindran Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Award for his research on fault diagnosis and prognosis for aerospace systems. He is incredibly grateful to his mentors Drs. Hekmat Alighanbari and Krishna Kumar, and professors at TMU FEAS Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for their support and guidance.
👉 𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡
During his academic training at TMU Afshin worked with several organizations including ISS, Tirgan, Oakham House Choir, MITACS, RIADI and AeroGCU in research, administrative, student governance, and cocurricular capacities. One of his most impactful roles was working with students to enhance their writing skills as a writing consultant for Student Life and Learning Support. These invaluable experiences have shaped Afshin’s research program, mentoring and teaching.
👉 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞
Afshin mentions that collaborating with industry for research helps build connections and introduces students and postdocs to industry culture, mindset, and how research projects function in a non-academic environment. He encourages students to collaborate with peers and present research at conferences and actively engage in interdisciplinary events, workshops, and seminars within and beyond your institution. Joining professional societies related to their engineering subfield can also offer opportunities to develop relationships with potential collaborators and open doors to collaborative research projects. Afshin worked in industry briefly before transitioning into an academic position and acknowledges that having a knowledge of both sectors is highly advantageous.
Afshin’s contributions transcend his research, impacting the lives of his peers, students and community through his outreach, leadership, and mentorship. We wish Afshin all the best and thank him for sharing his gained wisdom to help our students and postdocs.
Image ref: Univ. of Windsor, Faculty of Engineering
#careeradvice #graduateschool #postdocs #engineering
Higher Education Specialist/ MBA/ Marketing & Recruiting/ Print & Ship/ Advise students
8moThis is a great program, congratulations to @Vikram kapila and his team for dedicating their time and effort for this ever evolving HuB. Wish you the best!