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February 27, 2006 Vol. 77, no. 7S
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ME associate professor Tarek I. Zohdi received his B.S. and. M.S.
in ME from Louisiana State University in 1989 and 1991, respectively.
He received his Ph.D. in computational and applied mathematics
from the University of Texas, Austin, in 1997, and, in 2002,
his Habilitation in general mechanics from the Universitaet
Hannover, Germany. He joined the Berkeley faculty in 2001.
His research interests include multiscale inverse problems
involving optimization and design of new materials and modeling
and simulation of strongly coupled multifield processes in
multiphase systems.
(Peg Skorpinski photo)
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Professor Minute with ME associate professor Tarek Zohdi
What first inspired
you to go into engineering?
My father was an ME professor and my mother was a civil engineer. Essentially,
I was coerced and brainwashed into it.
To date, what has been
the most memorable moment in your career?
I taught as a post-doc in Germany after finishing my Ph.D. Fresh from
a crash course in German, I lectured about dynamics to 250 undergraduates
in an auditorium literally screaming, since there was no microphone.
It was a nightmare. It gave me an appreciation for how difficult it
must be for foreign students and researchers, whose native languages
aren’t English, to rapidly converse back and forth, under pressure,
here in the U.S.
Whom do you most admire?
Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King. I grew up in Louisiana, and
they were powerful symbols in my childhood. They represent
a triumph over man’s primal, violent instincts. I also admire
Jonas Salk because of his pioneering work that culminated in a
polio vaccine. He saved so many people, in particular children,
from a life of total misery.
If you had a few extra
hours, what would you do?
I would spend every waking moment doing research. Research has become
a drug that I cannot do without. I am a workaholic.
What is one thing you would like to learn how to do?
Learn to relax. It may sound trivial, but the ability to really enjoy
a vacation with my children would be nice. I envy people who can do
it.
If you would like us
to feature your favorite professor, please e-mail his or her name to
engnews@coe.berkeley.edu.
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