New Faculty 2023

Ebrahim Amiri 

EE Department Chair

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Ebrahim Amiri received the B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees from Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, in 2005 and 2008, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA, in 2013, all in electrical engineering. In January 2015, he joined the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at University of New Orleans, where he served as the graduate program coordinator (2020-2023) and the Chair of the Department (2022-2023). In July 2023, he joined the Electrical Engineering Department at California State University, Long Beach. His current research interests include design, development and modeling of electric machines. For example, the design, development and analytical/semi-analytical modeling of electrical machinery (e.g., IPM and SPM machines), and electromagnetic devices (e.g., fault current limiter) and power electronics converters in motor drive, and renewable energy applications (e.g., grid connected inverter based resources). 

Amir Ghasemkhani 

CECS Assistant Professor

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Amir Ghasemkhani is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Engineering and Computer Science at California State University Long Beach. He was previously a postdoctoral researcher in the Computer Science and Engineering department at the University of Nevada Reno (UNR). He also received his Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering from the UNR in 2019. Prior to joining UNR, he received his B.S. and M.S. in electrical and computer engineering in 2011 and 2014 in Iran, respectively. His research interests revolve around AI privacy and security for cyber physical system (CPS) applications. He has been collaborating with different groups from universities (University of Nevada, Arizona State University, Virginia Tech University), government agencies (DOE, NYPA, PNNL), and industry (IBM). 

Derek Hu 

BME/CECS Assistant Professor

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Dr. Derek Hu joined the CSULB Department of Biomedical Engineering as an Assistant Professor in Fall 2023. He obtained his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of California, Irvine in 2023.  

Dr. Hu's research focuses on developing and utilizing computational techniques on neural timeseries, with a focus on subjects with epilepsy. During his graduate studies, Dr. Hu's utilized various signal processing techniques to identify quantitative biomarkers in the electroencephalogram for the evaluation of developmental and epileptic encephalopathies. 

Arash Sarshar 

CECS Assistant Professor

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Dr. Arash Sarshar is an assistant professor at the Computer Engineering and Computer Science Department at California State University, Long Beach. His research interests span the theory and applications of machine learning and numerical methods for scientific simulations. He is also interested in using data science to inform public health and policy decisions. 

Dr. Sarshar joined the College of Engineering in the Fall of 2023 after serving as a postdoctoral associate in the Department of Computer Science at Virginia Tech, where he also earned his Ph.D. He has Master's and Bachelor's degrees in Electrical Engineering. 

Shams Tanvir 

CECEM Assistant Professor

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Dr. Shams Tanvir is an Assistant Professor in the CSULB Department of Civil Engineering and Construction Engineering Management. Previously, he was an Assistant Professor at Cal Poly SLO and a research faculty at the University of California- Riverside. Dr. Tanvir is a member of Transportation Research Board (part of National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine) steering committees on Transportation Air Quality and Greenhouse Gas Mitigation and Highway Capacity and Quality of Services. He chairs the Sustainable Transportation committee at the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Dr. Tanvir received his Ph.D. in Transportation Systems Engineering from North Carolina State University. He received B.S. and M.S. in Civil Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka. 

Dr. Shams Tanvir conducts research and teaches in the area of sustainable mobility. His research aims at the development and characterization of transportation technologies that minimize energy consumption and emissions while enhancing mobility efficiency and equity. Tanvir led projects sponsored by US Department of Transportation, the California Air Resources Board (CARB), the US Department of Education, and the California Department of Transportation. 

At CSULB, Dr. Tanvir works with the students of Sustainable Mobility Laboratory (SuMoLab). The two main building blocks of the SuMoLab are high-fidelity system simulation and piloting of emerging technologies. 

Jingyi Zeng 

MAE Assistant Professor

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Dr. Jingyi Zeng joined the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at California State University, Long Beach as an Assistant Professor in Fall 2023. She received her Ph.D. and M.S. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from the University of California, Irvine in 2023, with a specialization in fluid dynamics. Prior to that, she completed her bachelor’s degree in Energy, Power Engineering and Automation from Xi’an Jiaotong University in 2016, where she was distinguished as a member of the Special Class for the Gifted Young. 

Dr. Zeng's research primarily focuses on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), non-classical gas theory, turbomachinery design, scientific computing, and the integration of machine learning methodologies within CFD frameworks. Her previous work has delved into the realm of nonclassical gas dynamics, with a profound focus on the theoretical investigations and numerical simulations of the Bethe-Zel'dovich-Thompson-type dense gases in various flow regimes. She developed an innovative pressure-based solution methodology for compressible flow to address the stiffness issue encountered near the gas critical point. Additionally, she has incorporated machine learning techniques to advance modeling thermodynamic properties in Non-Ideal Computational Fluid Dynamics (NICFD). Beyond this, Dr.Zeng's work in NICFD emphasizes its applications in the growing domain of renewable energy and sustainable power systems, including the efficient operation of hydrogen infrastructure systems and the design and optimization of the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) engines. 

Paul Ayegba 

MAE Assistant Professor

Dr. Paul Ayegba will be joining CSULB in January. Ahead of his arrival he sat down for a quick Q&A:

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1) What are you most excited for about joining The Beach?

I am excited to be part of CSULB's rich diversity and the excellent achievements of the Mechanical and Aerospace Department. I am also fascinated by the city's landscapes, measeums, aquariums as well as the wonderfall Bay weather.

 

 2) Could you describe your research interests, and what draws you to them?

My research interests are in the areas of Flow Boiling and Multiphase Flow.  

 

Flow Boiling: Recent advances in applications such as avionics, high-performance computers, electrical vehicle power electronics, power plants (energy production or conversion) and transport of cryogenic liquids have led to unprecedented challenges in removing large amounts of heat from these systems. While a variety of single and two-phase cooling systems have been considered for these applications, two-phase mini-tubular devices have been especially favored for their compactness, relative ease of fabrication, high heat dissipation to volume ratio and small coolant inventory.

 

Multiphase Flow; Multiphase pipeline fluid transport is a common feature in chemical, process and petroleum industry operations. Due to the complex nature of multiphase flows, accurate measurements and/or prediction of various quantities associated with such flow is challenging. The high uncertainties often associated with multiphase flow measurements limits the application of such data for validating existing models.

 

My research interests fall under the following themes;

• Flow Boiling (earth and microgravity flow boiling, high pressure flow boiling, theoretical and mechanistic modelling of flow boiling) 
• Multiphase flow (gas-liquid flow, liquid-liquid flows, complex and reactive flows)
• Drag reduction (additive drag reduction, surface modification)
• Machine learning and computational fluid dynamics (applied to the above areas)

I am drawn to these research themes due to the vast industry applications involving them as well as the important role of fluids and energy to the universe.

 

 

3) One fun fact about yourself?

I still watch TV channels for kids! They remind me that simple solutions work and they provide an alternate reality to the often complicated daily task of living and working.