• What is your degree program and expected graduation date? Ph.D. program, Electrical and Computer Engineering, May 2019

• Please describe your research: My area of research is focused on the performance modeling of bifacial photovoltaic (PV) systems utilizing ray tracing.

• In simple terms, why does this research matter? Bifacial PV promises higher energy yield compared to the conventional PV systems. However, partly due to lack of accurate bifacial PV modeling tools, utilization of this technology has remained limited. Therefore, developing an accurate bifacial model is essential to the industry.

• How soon after starting at the University of Iowa were you able to participate in research? I started doing research in my first semester at the University of Iowa.

• How has being involved in research made you more successful at the University of Iowa? During my Ph.D. project, I collaborated with the scientists in multiple leading research institutes and it helped me to develop my professional expertise in my research area.

• What are your career goals and/or plans after graduation? My career goals are to continue contributing towards developing accurate modeling tools which help the PV and in general renewable energy industry to have more share in the energy market.

• Faculty mentor/advisor: Dr. Fatima Toor

• Hometown: Tabriz, Iran

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