5/8/2023 Debra Levey Larson
Written by Debra Levey Larson
This year, four doctoral students in the Department of Aerospace Engineering have been awarded Mavis Future Faculty Fellowships. The Mavis Memorial Fund Scholarship for Future Faculty Fellows was created to help develop skills to become successful in an academic setting. Fellows participate in the MF3 Academy, which is a unique program designed to prepare the next generation of engineering professors.
Jafar Abbaszadeh Chekan works with Professor Cedric Langbort. About his research, he said, “I'm passionate about exploring the various intersections of control theory, game theory, learning theory, and information theory. They hold great potential for solving the design challenges faced by intelligent systems. In my Ph.D., I'm particularly interested in working on the theoretical aspects of ensuring the safety of intelligent systems.”
Abbaszadeh Chekan believes participating in the MF3 Academy will help him achieve his goal to become a successful faculty member and academic. “The program's workshops, seminars, and activities offer valuable opportunities for learning and growth, which I am eager to take advantage of.”
Bryan Cline’s advisers are Professors Joshua Rovey and Robyn Woollands. His current research focuses on developing mission design techniques for spacecraft with multimode propulsion using optimal control. “Multimode propulsion combines two or more propulsive modes into a single system using a single propellant and can vastly increase the maneuvering capability of spacecraft while also reducing the dry mass in comparison to traditional approaches,” Cline said. “There is currently a lack of techniques for analyzing and designing missions using this technology. We need new methods to capitalize on its potential.”
Cline said although an academic position may not be his first stop after graduating, he plans to explore opportunities to teach throughout his career.
“The MF3 Academy will complement my degree program by providing me with the skills to successfully compete for a faculty position and succeed in that role,” Cline said. “In particular, I am very excited about the pedagogical and mentorship training the program will provide because that is not explicitly a part of my formal degree program.”
Taha Shafa works with Professor Melkior Ornik. Shafa’s research specializes in control theory, specifically for nonlinear systems under significant uncertainty.
“I hope to specialize in advanced geometry as it relates to control theory to eventually become a professor in this field,” Shafa said. “I believe the Mavis program is the best way to help bridge the gap between technical knowledge and how to apply that knowledge to become a successful faculty member at a rank one school.”
Elizabeth Torres De Jesus’ adviser is Professor Theresa Saxton-Fox. Her research investigates the physics of turbulence to learn through experiments the mechanisms of interaction between different coherent structures in turbulent boundary layers.
“Apart of doing research, my main reason in pursuing a PhD is to eventually become a professor,” Torres De Jesus said. “This program interested me because as a PhD student the training in becoming a manager and mentor is not part of the program, and the MF3 gives an opportunity to close that gap in knowledge with the help of other faculty and other resources. I believe that becoming a better mentor will also help create more inclusive spaces in academia and engineering.”
The Office of Engineering Graduate, Professional and Online Programs facilitates the MF3 Academy. Abbaszadeh Chekan, Cline, Shafa, and Torres De Jesus will participate in a series of workshops, seminars, and activities that cover various aspects of an academic career for a full academic calendar.
The workshops are open for all engineering graduate students to attend. But being a Fellow in the program requires more than just attending the workshops. For example, one of the additional requirements is that Fellows must complete a capstone project, such as developing a grant proposal or job shadowing three or more faculty members at other institutions and writing a paper reflecting on what they learned.
The Mavis Future Faculty Fellows Academy is made possible by the generous bequest of Frederic T. and Edith F. Mavis. Dr. Mavis received his BS, MS, and PhD degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He was a professor of Civil Engineering at several universities and was the Dean of Engineering at the University of Maryland from 1957-67.