Biomedical engineering doctoral student wins prestigious teaching award

Wayne State University's Graduate School recently awarded Armin Iraji, Ph.D. student in biomedical engineering, the prestigious Garrett T. Heberlein Excellence in Teaching Award for graduate students. The award gives the university an opportunity to recognize and encourage excellence in teaching among graduate students, and acknowledges the important role they play in carrying out the university's teaching mission. It is the only university-wide teaching award for graduate students.

When Iraji learned of the opportunity to start teaching in the College of Engineering, he decided to utilize the many resources available to him within the university. He became very active in the Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training (BEST) program, which has developed infrastructure allowing trainees to explore multiple career opportunities and innovative ways to enhance their skills. In addition, he utilized the many training sessions offered by the Office of Teaching and Learning at Wayne State. Ultimately, he was able to earn his teaching certificate through their programs. Iraji says these programs taught him the importance of connecting with students. He routinely tries to keep track of former students as they progress in their programs and strives to offer mentoring to those in need.

Iraji came to Wayne State University in 2012 to begin his Ph.D. after earning his master's at Tehran University (TU) in Iran. He learned of the biomedical engineering program at Wayne State through his advisor at TU, Hamid Soltanian-Zadeh, a senior scientist and head of the Medical Imaging Analysis Group in the Department of Radiology at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit. In his studies at Wayne State, Iraji works with Zhifeng Kou, assistant professor of biomedical engineering and radiology, on a project exploring the functional connectivity of brain connection and diffusion connectivity as it pertains to mild traumatic brain injuries. "Basically, we know that MTBI exists, but we currently don't have imaging techniques that can identify what part of the brain is injured through traditional methods of CAT scan or MRIs," explains Iraji.

Of living and learning in Detroit, he believes the Wayne State provides a friendly and thriving place to do research. In his off time, he loves exploring the city and visiting favorite places such as Dave and Busters.

"The university manages to do such high-level research while at the same time really working to interact with the community," says Iraji. One of my favorite events is Brain Day, where Wayne State neuroscientists showcase their work at the Michigan Science Center. It really shows that the university is determined to not only serve its students, but also the surrounding community."

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Wayne State University is a premier urban research institution of higher education offering 380 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to nearly 28,000 students. For more information about engineering at Wayne State University, visit engineering.wayne.edu.