![\"KabirianAlireza.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/www.ecs.csun.edu\/ecsdean\/pics\/spectraf2011\/KabirianAlireza.jpg\" "\\"KabirianAlireza.jpg\\"")
Alireza Kabirian<\/strong>, an assistant professor in the Department of Manufacturing Systems Engineering and Management and expert in operations research and applied statistics, has experienced more than his share of culture shock in his career. After earning his undergraduate and master\u2019s degrees in industrial engineering in Iran, he came to the U.S. to pursue a doctorate at Iowa State University. Following his Ph.D., he taught at the University of Alaska in Anchorage for two years before abandoning the frigid north for Southern California\u2014a move that pleased his new wife, who was not inclined to endure the harsh arctic winters of the 49th state. While he admits that the region\u2019s cultural diversity and recreational opportunities played a part in attracting him to the area, since arriving at CSUN, Kabirian has been especially impressed with how helpful and friendly his colleagues have been.\u00a0<\/a>\u201cEverybody here tries to help me as a new faculty member, even if I don\u2019t ask for help,\u201d he says. He also appreciates working at a teaching university. \u201cCSUN is doing a good job educating our engineers for industry,\u201d he observes. \u201cHere students will be more prepared for real-world problem solving. This is what we teach them.\u201d<\/p>\nFor one it\u2019s been a homecoming. For another it\u2019s meant immersion in a completely new environment. For the others it\u2019s been like moving into new digs across town. CECS\u2019s new faculty members have brought diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise to their new jobs, but all agree on one thing: joining the CSUN engineering and computer science faculty has been an excellent career move and promises to be personally and professionally rewarding. Alireza Kabirian, an assistant professor in the Department of Manufacturing Systems Engineering and Management and expert in operations research and applied statistics, has experienced more than his share […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall-2011"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecs.csun.edu\/spectra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecs.csun.edu\/spectra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecs.csun.edu\/spectra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecs.csun.edu\/spectra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecs.csun.edu\/spectra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=419"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecs.csun.edu\/spectra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":420,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecs.csun.edu\/spectra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419\/revisions\/420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecs.csun.edu\/spectra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecs.csun.edu\/spectra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecs.csun.edu\/spectra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"YoussefGeorge.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/www.ecs.csun.edu\/ecsdean\/pics\/spectraf2011\/YoussefGeorge.jpg\" "\\"YoussefGeorge.jpg\\"")
By contrast,\u00a0George Youssef<\/strong>, an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, never really left the college. He arrived at CSUN as an undergraduate in 2003, earning his bachelor\u2019s degree in 2005. While working at his first job in aerospace, he began to pursue a master\u2019s degree and concurrently started teaching part time at CSUN\u2014something he continued when he went on to UCLA for his Ph.D. While he enjoyed working in industry, he was eager to focus on academia because he has a passion for teaching and, he notes, \u201cIn teaching you have opportunity to switch focus so many times in your career, you never stop learning.\u201d As it happened, there was a job opening at CSUN when he completed his doctorate. He was hired, and now, he says, he feels as if he\u2019s back home. He especially enjoys interacting with students\u2014something they have not failed to notice. Once, a student bet some friends $20 that Youssef would still be in his office at 11 p.m.\u2014a bet that he won. \u201cThe students kind of push you as a professor to perform better, through the questions they ask,\u201d he says.\u201d I really enjoy that a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"MukherjeeAbhijit.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/www.ecs.csun.edu\/ecsdean\/pics\/spectraf2011\/MukherjeeAbhijit.jpg\" "\\"MukherjeeAbhijit.jpg\\"")
Abhijit Mukherjee<\/strong>, who earned his bachelor\u2019s degree in India and his master\u2019s at Villanova University in Pennsylvania, is no stranger to Los Angeles but, he admits, during the five years he spent working on his Ph.D. at UCLA, he rarely crossed into the San Fernando Valley. So when he arrived at CSUN to interview for a job as an assistant professor of mechanical engineering, he was pleasantly surprised by the size and beauty of the campus. Now, as a member of the faculty, he particularly appreciates the student diversity, which he finds striking, and the quality of the campus facilities. \u201cThey\u2019re the best you can find anywhere,\u201d he says. An expert in heat transfer, fuel cell technology and microfluidics, Mukherjee was drawn to Southern California as much for its weather, art, culture and sports as for the excellent job opportunity in the College of Engineering and Computer Science. \u201cLA is a very cosmopolitan place,\u201d he says. \u201c\u201dI want to be successful in my career as a CSUN faculty member and at the same time enjoy life and give my kids the best possible experience. There is no better place than LA.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"NahapetianAni.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/www.ecs.csun.edu\/ecsdean\/pics\/spectraf2011\/NahapetianAni.jpg\" "\\"NahapetianAni.jpg\\"")
Ani Nahapetian<\/strong>, assistant professor of computer science, loves travel and photography and especially enjoys combining the two, but when it comes to her career, she hasn\u2019t ventured far from home. She grew up in the San Fernando Valley, then earned her bachelor\u2019s, master\u2019s and doctoral degrees at UCLA. Following her Ph.D., she taught for a year at California State University, Dominguez Hills before returning to UCLA as an adjunct professor and simultaneously working in the wireless health industry. \u201cIt was a great opportunity and a springboard for coming to CSUN,\u201d she explains. An expert in embedded systems, especially hardware-based system security and sensor systems with health applications, Nahapetian had been keeping an eye on CECS for job openings in computer science. \u201cI knew that I loved to teach and CSUN was a great place to do that,\u201d she says. \u201cI also had very positive impressions of faculty members I had met at local conferences.\u201d Now, only a few months into her faculty appointment, she hasn\u2019t once looked back. She has had very positive experiences with students and appreciates the university\u2019s supportive environment. \u201cFrom all these interactions, I can tell this is where I want to spend the rest of my career,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"