Research Faculty

For the NSF REU Program

DR. HEIDAR MALKI, PI, is Professor and Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies, College of Technology, and Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering. He was an advisor for an NSF project on STEP-AHEAD: Access to Higher Education Through Academic Retention and Development at the University of Houston. He participated with the Program for Mastery in Engineering Studies (PROMES) in the Cullen College of Engineering (3 undergraduates mentored).

DR. XIAOJING YUAN, co-PI, is an Assistant Professor of Engineering Technology. She is the founder and director of the ISGRIN research lab and actively incorporates undergraduate research activities as part of final project requirements in several courses of the Computer Engineering Technology curriculum dealing with sensors, instrumentation, and microprocessor hardware and software. She is serving as the faculty advisor of the ISA student chapter of UH (www.uh.edu/isa) (4 undergraduates mentored).

DR. GANGBING SONG is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering. He has developed two lab-based, research-oriented courses. He systematically integrated externally funded smart structures research into undergraduate education via senior design projects at University of Akron. He generated more than 30 undergraduate projects during the last 6 years. He has collaborated with the Women in Engineering Program at the University of Akron and the University of Houston, and has offered smart materials workshops and tours to potential women engineers and high school students for the past four years (30 undergraduate mentored).

DR. GEORGE ZOURIDAKIS is an Associate Professor and Director of the Biomedical Imaging Lab for the Department of Computer Science.

DR. DENIZ GURKAN is an Assistant Professor of Engineering Technology. She contributed to assembling the Optical Network Research Lab funded by the University of Houston, Sprint and Southwestern Bell Corp. While at California State University–Long Beach, she conducted workshops that mentored high school girls to pursue science and engineering fields (4 undergraduates mentored).

DR. FARROKH ATTARZADEH is an Associate Professor of Engineering Technology. He is the CLABS Project Director - a project that is revamping the educational philosophy of the eight Computer Engineering Technology laboratories. He also directs the senior capstone course, which in the past two years has yielded several student publications and two patent disclosure applications. In the past two years he has mentored more than 70 senior project students. He is in charge of a NASA-JSC funded CORE (Coordination Of Robotics Education). The goal of CORE is to enhance Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education via the coordination of K-20 robotics events in Houston (280 undergraduate mentored).

DR. RUPA IYER is a Research Associate Professor and Director of Biotechnology Programs and is responsible for developing the new Undergraduate Biotechnology program at the College of Technology. She is establishing biotechnology laboratories in collaboration with industry and academic partners that infuse current research into undergraduate labs. She was awarded Texas workforce Commission and the National Science Foundation CCLI Phase I grants to develop this initiative.

DR. FATIMA MERCHANT is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering Technology at the University of Houston. She joined the department in 2008 and her research interests are in the areas of computational cytogenetics, angiogenesis and revascularization, multi-dimensional image cytometry, and cancer diagnostics.

DR. MEQUANINT MOGES is an instructional Assistant Professor at the Department of Engineering Technology. He is mainly involved in teaching a broad range of courses and levels. He is a member and co-advisor of various undergraduate as well as graduate student projects committees. He also actively participates in curriculum revision and development of several courses.

DR. DRISS BENHADDOU is an Assistant Professor of Engineering Technology. He is spearheading the Optical Network Research Lab funded by the University of Houston, Sprint and Southwestern Bell Corp (10 undergraduates mentored).