Award Recipients Profile2012-2013

Any views or opinions presented in the following profiles are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those ofthe Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Androu Abdalmalak4th Year - Biomedical EngineeringDepartment of Electrical & Computer EngineeringAcademic Excellence Award I am in my final year of Biomedical Engineering atRyerson University. I first came to Canada when I was 17years old and have learned a lot throughout my time atRyerson. I am thankful and honored to be receiving theDepartment of Electrical and Computer EngineeringAcademic Excellence Award. I have worked very hard tomaintain a standard of academic success and I owe a greatdeal of thanks to many people. I appreciate all of myprofessors, and all of the time and effort they have put intoguiding me through this whirlwind of an experience. Iwould also like to thank my family and friends for theirsupport. All in all, my time at Ryerson has been veryrewarding. I am very privileged to be a part of thecommunity environment, and amazing researchopportunities Ryerson has cultivated over the years. I amthankful that Ryerson has been my home for the last fewyears and has enabled me to grow both personally andprofessionally.

Ashkan Bargiz-Farshi3rd year - Biomedical EngineeringDepartment of Electrical & Computer EngineeringAcademic Excellence Award Ashkan started his bachelor studies in BiomedicalEngineering at Ryerson university in 2011. He has beenrecognized as Ryerson Student Scholars and a member ofDean's list for two years. In 2012, he volunteered for aresearch project in the area of high intensity focusedultrasound (HIFU). In 2013, under the supervision of Dr.Tavakkoli, Ashkan was awarded an NSERC-USRAaward to continue with his HIFU research in the field ofImage-guided HIFU for neurosurgery.

Sami Dalati3rd Year - Electrical Engineering•Jack Roy Longstaffe Memorial Scholarship •Dimitri Klimow Memorial Scholarship•Department of Electrical & Computer EngineeringAcademic Excellence Award Sami Dalati is a third year student of ElectricalEngineering at Ryerson University. Sami currently worksas a Software Developer in the gesture recognition area. Inaddition, he is the co-president of the Hobby ElectronicsClub at Ryerson University. Since he joined Ryerson, heworked for several startups at the Digital Media Zonewhere he is currently employed. Born in 1986, Samistudied Computer Science until he moved to Canada in2005, since then he has completed a college diploma andhas worked for few years. Sami is very passionate abouteducation, thus he wishes to take an academic career path.Therefore he decided to attend Ryerson University toacquire a BEng that would serve as a corner stone for hiscareer. In 2012, he won the Ryerson EngineeringCompetition in the Debate category. His team is also thewinner of the Senior Design and programming categoriesfor 2013. His hobbies include software, electronics, Lego,and rowing.

Sahar FerozBiomedical EngineeringIEEE Toronto Section Scholarship for AcademicExcellenceGraduated – 2013 I recently graduated from Biomedical Engineering withhonours. After completing my third year, I had theopportunity to work as an intern for 16 months at SanofiPasteur in the Bioprocess Research & Development:Formulation and Stability platform. As a BiomedicalEngineering student, I gained a lot of technical and hands-on experience. I developed a thorough understanding ofthe process development as I designed and executedexperiments to optimize various processes. I also helped inimplementing new technologies for these processes. During my 4th year at Ryerson University, I designed aHaptic Surgical Training System and was awarded 2013Best Capstone Design Project. I was also honoured to be arecipient of Dean’s List and Ryerson Student Scholarsthroughout the four years at Ryerson University. I had anexecutive position as a VP of membership at the BMESRyerson Student Chapter. Overall, I had a great experienceat Ryerson University and I am grateful for all that theUniversity has done for me. I am truly honoured to receive the IEEE Toronto SectionScholarship for Academic Excellence. This award providesadditional motivation, enthusiasm and determination toachieve my professional goals as an Engineer.

Gen Wu Jin2nd Year - Electrical EngineeringJack Roy Longstaffe Memorial Scholarship Gen Wu Jin has graduated from the Electro-MechanicalEngineering Technician program George Brown College.As a hard-working student, he made the Dean's HonorsRoll in spring 2007 with a GPA of 3.54 and received the2008 Tech in the City Cabinet Award for superioracademic performance and leadership qualities. After graduation, he worked as a field technician at a firealarm company. While working for four years in the firealarm industry, he became a Canadian Fire AlarmAssociating certified technician. Now, in order to acquire further technical and theoreticalknowledge in the field he is studying ElectricalEngineering in Ryerson University. He is now workinghard to achieve academic excellence and looking forwardto step into the professional word of ElectricalEngineering after graduation.

Gentian Licenji3rd Year - Computer EngineeringDepartment of Electrical & Computer EngineeringAcademic Excellence Award My name is Gentian Licenji and before starting myundergraduate career in Electrical and ComputerEngineering at Ryerson, I previously studied in thePolytechnic University of Tirana, Albania.I have worked very hard to achieve and maintain aposition on the Dean’s Honor list with a GPA of 4.0. Ihave been awarded two scholarships for excellence“Aditya Jha Diversity Award” and “Jack Roy LangstaffeMemorial Scholarship” during my 1st year ofEngineering. In addition, I was a part of the RESS froshteam, which made me realize my passion in leading andmentoring people towards their goal.I have worked for over two years as a research assistantwith many different projects, which proved to be a greatlearning experience. However, recently I have startedworking on my own start-up project called iRA(an OCRmobile application that will aid the blind/visually impairedin reading everyday printed documents). My ultimate goalis to contribute in the community by building a successfulcompany that will shape the visual technology of thefuture.

Heqiang (Alex) Lin3rd Year - Electrical Engineering•Gordon and Agnes (Twambley) Brash Award •IEEE Toronto Section Scholarship•Department of Electrical & Computer EngineeringAcademic Excellence Award •Stalin Boctor Circuits Award for AcademicExcellence I immigrated to Canada in 2001, with a Bachelor’s degreein Engineering in Precision Instrument from China. Iworked as CNC machine setup operator in MagnaPowertrain for 5 years. In 2007, I joined Terex as aproduction engineer, to design and implement an assemblyline for crawler excavators, in Beijing, China. In 2009, Ijoined Bosch Rexroth as a production engineer toimplement a new assembly line for wind turbinegearboxes. I started my full time academic study inElectrical Engineering program in Ryerson University, InFall 2011. I completed the first 2 years’ courses withCGPA of 4.27.

Michelle Luk4th Year - Biomedical EngineeringDepartment of Electrical & Computer EngineeringAcademic Excellence Award Michelle Luk is a 4th year Biomedical Engineering studentat Ryerson University graduating in April 2014. Since herfirst year, she has been avidly participating in variousstudent groups, including the Tri-mentoring club, RyersonChinese Christian Fellowship and the student chapter ofBiomedical Engineering Society (BMES). This year, sheis serving as the BMES Vice President of Finance.Michelle is honoured to receive the Academic ExcellenceAward for 2012/2013 Academic Year, and wants to takethe opportunity to thank all of her friends and family whohave supported her during her time at Ryerson University!

Dmitry OgorodnikovElectrical EngineeringDavid Platnick Memorial AwardGraduated 2013 Thank you all for everything. I believe that hard work,patience and dedication pay-off eventually. I really meanit. I never tried to be an average student because when youtry getting an 'A++' you just end up with an 'A'. Why nottrying your best all the time? It is very important to haveyour luck as well. I was lucky to get into two internshipswith IBM in Vancouver and Safran Electronics inPeterborough, and then land in my dream job in theUnited States. Although I am no longer a student, I willnever forget my university years. There I have learned mylessons the hard way, believe me.

Sina Panahandeh3rd Year - Electrical EngineeringDepartment of Electrical & Computer EngineeringAcademic Excellence Award In 2011, Sina started his bachelor in Electrical Engineeringat Ryerson University and has been a member of studentscholar and dean’s list for two consecutive years. Havingstarted his bachelor at Ryerson University, Sina hasdedicated his time to research in multimedia andevolutionary computing. He is recognized for his work onRGB-D cameras at CIM2 Lab. In 2013, he won theNSERC university research award for his research onsmart traffic light systems.

Hooman SamaniElectrical EngineeringEd Towgood Award for Excellence in Thesis ProjectPerformanceGraduated 2013 Received his B.Eng. degree in Electrical Engineering fromRyerson University in 2013. During this period I wasinvolved with the “Robots Collaboration for a SingleMission.” In 2008 I received a two year certificate in Automotiveand Robotics from Centennial College.Before starting my degree program I worked as an aircrafttechnician at an aviation company where I received a twoyear aircraft overhaul technician certificate. Currently a MASc student – Research project is about“Synchronous Integrated Micro Inverters Photo Voltaicsystem including a Battery/Super capacitor backup systemwith an intelligent power management system for smarthomes.”

Marim Soliman4th year - Biomedical EngineeringDepartment of Electrical & Computer EngineeringAcademic Excellence Award Marim Soliman joined the Ryerson University faculty ofEngineering – Biomedical Engineering in 2009 She iscurrently a fourth year student. Since her commencementof university studies, she has proven herself to always beon the top list of the academic successful students, as shewas selected as a Ryerson student Scholar for 4 years andalso she has made it for the Dean’s list every year.Marim is a very academic oriented student. She has uniqueanalytical skills that have made her excel at every projectand course she has taken. In addition, she has beenenjoying the Biomedical Engineering program at Ryerson;which combines the design and problem solving skills ofengineering with medical and biological sciences toadvance healthcare treatment.Marim has enjoyed building mentor to student relationshipswith many of her professors who have always assisted herwhenever needed. Her professional career outside ofacademia includes joining many professors to work ontheir research projects, Mentor and tutor of students, as wellas a current intern at the Sunny Brook Hospital.Marim dreams of continuing on in the field of biomedicalengineering and joining a renowned Medical ResearchCompany after she graduates. In order to implement all hereducation and knowledge to the real world experience andhopefully contribute to this world with her unique set ofskills and knowledge.

Michael Taracha3rd year - Electrical Engineering•Rockwell Automation Award •Department of Electrical & Computer EngineeringAcademic Excellence Award Michael Taracha was born in Ottawa, ON in 1985. Aftercompleting his Bachelor of science in Physics at theUniversity of Ottawa in 2007, Michael worked atTRIUMF, Canada's national lab for particle and nuclearphysics in Vancouver, BC. He later worked for CoandaResearch and Development Corp, a fluid dynamicsengineering research firm based in Burnaby, BC. After re-locating to Toronto in 2011, Michael decided to pursue adegree in electrical engineering and hopes to work intelecommunications.

James White4th Year - Electrical EngineeringCanadian Electronics Representative Association(CERA) Award James White is in his fourth year of studying electricalengineering. He is very excited to have the chance toattend Ryerson University and for the past four years haveenjoyed every moment. His main focus is on Ryersonenergy systems option. James is very thankful for all theopportunities that is presented to him and is very grateful.He is receiving the Canadian Electronics RepresentativeAssociation (CERA) Award for his interest in pursuingtechnical sales.

Scholarships and Awards Committee Dr. Muhammad Jaseemuddin, Chair, Awards CommitteeDr. John Chen, Faculty MemberDr. Vadim Geurkov, Faculty MemberDr. Karthi Umapathy, Faculty MemberYvonne Cordwell, Program Assistant Awards and Scholarships are decided on the basis ofgrade point scores, or where applicable, a combination ofgrade point scores and unique criteria pertaining to theparticular award. Except for graduating students, only those students with acurrent full-time registration in the program offered by theDepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering areeligible for the awards.