University of Central Florida
09/30/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/30/2024 08:17
From Microns to Mentorship: The Human Side of Innovation
The walls in Reza Abdolvand's office are mostly bare. A few dozen books sit indiscreetly on the lower shelves of a bookcase. There is no evidence of Abdolvand's induction into the National Academy of Inventors or of his 15 U.S. patents for micro- and nano-devices - they're literally and figuratively invisible. Abdolvand would rather turn all focus to topics other than his accomplishments.
"If we take our values seriously," he says with a voice as welcoming as his smile, "then good things will happen."
His statement about values would be rather vague if there weren't concrete reminders of them at the top of Abdolvand's bookcase: thank-you cards from current and former UCF students. The centerpiece of his uncluttered desk serves as another reminder: a well-worn mousepad with a picture of his daughter and son taken around the same time Abdolvand came to UCF in 2014.
"This," he says, picking up the mousepad, "is a big reason why I'm here."
He mentions values two more times before moving on to "the objectives of UCF as a whole" and "the objectives of the electrical and computer engineering department as a unit." Asked to explain what he means, Abdolvand pulls out another visual aid: a department magazine he helped conceive, called Charged.
"Right here," he says, pointing to the 10 faculty members on the magazine's cover. They're among 21 new electrical and computer engineering hires over the past two years, an expansion of more than 50 percent. "Yes, this is about engineering and research, but people - quality people - are the most important part of our infrastructure. And this kind of growth … I didn't think it was possible."
It's an interesting comment from a research professor who could be describing impossible inventions that are smaller than dust particles. Instead, he has something bigger in mind.
"See the tagline of the magazine?" he says, tapping a finger on the four words under the Charged title: To empower and serve. "Serving our constituents is at the core of our values."
Abdolvand has spent nearly as much time since 2022 vetting faculty candidates as he has looking through powerful electron microscopes. It isn't enough to simply hire enough faculty to keep up with the demand from student enrollment.
"We need to find the right faculty," he says, speaking partly about their research interests in key fields like energy, AI and semiconductors. "It's more than that. They need to also fit the personality of UCF. Just like it is with humans, our personality is unique."
With that, he brings the connection between values, objectives and personality full circle to the link that until now has been missing from the conversation.
"Invention," he says. "We invent in labs, of course, but there's another kind of invention that makes UCF different. Anyone who comes into our department will help us invent new ways to serve our students."
What he is talking about includes a new master's program in robotics, certificate programs in electronic parts engineering and semiconductor manufacturing, and other tracks and minors that are still being developed.
"The foundation of our infrastructure, however, are the faculty and students," Abdolvand says. "They reflect our personality. Young. Creative. Diverse. This is a top university for social mobility, which is big. And we have a history rooted in technology. All of this is in the genes of UCF."
It's this personality that attracted him to UCF 10 years ago when there was no university-level facility for fabrication of the microscale devices that his research depends on. He was willing to help build this infrastructure because he admits to also being drawn to something more obvious.
"This is Florida. It's beautiful. And we are not a college town in the middle of nowhere. We're in Orlando," he says as he picks up the mousepad again. "It's a great place for raising a family."
We can't leave Abdolvand the father, the hiring manager and the mentor without seeing something from Abdolvand the inventor.
"You want to see what we research?" he says, standing up from his desk. "OK, I'll show you. Although, you cannot actually 'see' anything."
He leads the way across the L3Harris Engineering Center to a cleanroom in another building. Until recently, it would have taken months to gain access to the cleanroom. Abdolvand spent four years reshaping the process.
"Quicker access fits the infrastructure we want," he says. "It means our research can be far more efficient."
Along a hallway, Abdolvand stands outside the windows of the cleanroom. Inside, researchers wear protective suits, head coverings and booties. From the windows, it's like watching delicate surgery from a safe distance.
"The people don't need to protect themselves from anything," Abdolvand says. "They're protecting the devices." For context, the air in a typical room has more than 500,000 particles of size 0.5 micrometer or larger per cubic feet. A cleanroom should have far less than that. "If those small particles sit on a device we've fabricated, the device can be ruined."
None of it is visible: the particles or the devices.
"It's complex, I know," Abdolvand says.
For more context, he points out a scanning electron microscope near the window. The scope bounces high-energy electrons off the surface of micro- and nano-devices to convert what is impossible to optically see into gray-scale pictures. This has helped Abdolvand develop microscopic devices similar to the tiny microphones that are utilized in smartphones.
"I'm still amazed at times that we're doing this kind of research," he says.
As he walks back toward his office, Abdolvand casually waves to one student and faculty member after another. These are the values and objectives he explained earlier, in plain sight. People. Personality. Mentorship. Then, before heading into another meeting, he finally opens up about the one topic he's avoided: himself.
"I'm an engineer, an inventor," he says. "You know the stereotype - we're good with 'things,' but not necessarily with people. And it's true that I'm naturally an introvert. It's my personality. So, for a long time I believed making the next important gadgets would be my calling. But after I came to UCF, I realized how fulfilling it is to be a teacher and mentor. It surprised me. What I'm doing now, the relationships, the cards in my office, this is not what I anticipated for my career. It's much better than anything I ever imagined."