Aidin Mehdipour garners multiple awards
Graduate student Aidin Mehdipour is this year's recipient of the Concordia University Doctoral Prize in Engineering and Computer Science, as well as the Concordia University Distinguished Doctoral Dissertation Prize in Engineering and Natural Sciences.
This is one of two doctoral thesis prizes established by the Council of the School of Graduate Studies, in consideration of the increased number of graduate students and programs at Concordia. The prize includes a $2,000 award and a certificate.
A native of Iran, Mehdipour began his PhD in electrical engineering at Concordia in 2007. More specifically, he studied electromagnetics, antennas, and microwaves. He explains that his doctoral thesis looked at using carbon fibre composite materials for shielding and antennas – both relatively new applications.
“Carbon fibre composites have recently been used extensively in the aerospace and avionic industries because they are very durable materials with outstanding mechanical properties,” Mehdipour says.
“The electromagnetic shielding of composites is totally different from the metals used as the conventional materials in aircraft fuselage,” he adds. “I investigated the shielding properties of different types of carbon fibre composites in the first part of my thesis.”
Mehdipour’s work was part of a collaborative research project titled Electromagnetic Characteristics and EMI Study on Carbon Fibre Composites. It involved Concordia, the École Polytechnique de Montréal, the NRC Institute for Aerospace Research, as well as Bell Helicopter, and Delastek Inc. It was also funded in part by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
His research went on to explore new antenna technology using composites instead of metals, and compared their performance to conventional copper antennas.
Mehdipour has received significant recognition for his research. He was awarded the David J. Azrieli Graduate Fellowship for being the highest-ranking graduate student at Concordia during the 2009-2010 academic year.
He received the prestigious Governor General’s Academic Gold Medal for achieving the highest academic standing at the graduate level at the fall 2011 convocation. He also has obtained a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Postdoctoral Fellowship for the years 2012 to 2014. He received both Concordia prizes on June 20 at the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science convocation.
The awards make him very proud of what he accomplished during his PhD program at the university. “I am very happy about being selected as a winner for these two prestigious prizes, and I believe that this is the best way to encourage researchers to keep going.”
Mehdipour gave huge thanks to his supervisors, Abdel Sebak, an electrical and computer engineer professor specializing in applied electromagnetics, and the Faculty’s associate dean, academic affairs, Christopher W. Trueman, whose numerous areas of expertise include antennas, aircraft and electromagnetics.
A big thank you was also extended by Mehdipour to Suong Van Hoa and Iosif Rosca, who as professors within Concordia’s Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering helped to arrange for the necessary supply of carbon fibre composites, as well as engaging in useful discussions about the graduate project.
Related Links:
• Mehdipour, Aidin (2011) Advanced Carbon Fiber Composite Materials for Shielding and Antenna Applications. PhD thesis – Spectrum Library
• Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering News and Events
• “Students Earn Silver and Gold” — NOW, November 15, 2011
• Doctoral Dissertation Prizes
• School of Graduate Studies