Ahmed Ghoniem
Immigrant members of the MIT community
Photo courtesy of Daniel Jackson.
I grew up in Egypt. After finishing my bachelor's and master’s degrees at Cairo University, I joined the University of California, Berkeley to do my PhD. While considering different options for the couple of years after getting my degree, it was hard to resist the opportunity of trying out MIT. It was not easy leaving California, and even harder not going back to Cairo, but I felt very much at home in Cambridge, especially after meeting [my wife] Elizabeth and finding my life partner.
Over the years, my research and teaching branched out from computational engineering to combustion, propulsion and control, energy systems, CO2 capture and reuse, and renewable energy technologies. I very much enjoy teaching and my classroom experience, working with exceptional graduate students from all over the world, disseminating our research results domestically and internationally, and being part of an amazing community.
We are living in interesting times when we must become activists in our chosen domains while resisting distractions. I plan to continue to build bridges, locally and globally, work on environmentally responsible technologies, and uphold universal values. For me, this is the American way.
Ahmed F. Ghoniem is the Ronald C. Crane (1972) Professor of Mechanical Engineering, the Director of the Center for Energy and Propulsion Research, and the Director of the Reacting Gas Dynamics Laboratory.
Editor's note: Tech Transfers is a photo series by Professor Daniel Jackson that features immigrant members of MIT.