AHMED RUBAAI received the M.S.E.E degree from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, and the Dr. Eng. degree from Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH, in 1983 and 1988, respectively. In 1988, he joined Howard University, Washington, DC, as a faculty member, where he is presently a Professor and Chairperson of the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department. Dr. Rubaai has been named an IEEE Fellow in 2015.
As an Educator, Dr. Rubaai has been an acknowledged educator and leader of curriculum development at Howard University for more than two decades. He is the Founder and Lead Developer of Motion Control and Drives Laboratory that provides engineering students with valuable hands-on and “real-world” experiences.” In recognition of his scholarly work and dedication to the improvement of engineering education, his work is recognized by the larger community of engineering educators, as verified by his receipt of the 2011 ASEE Robert G. Quinn Award and the Distinguished Educator Award of the Middle-Atlantic Section of the American Society for Engineering Education. This recognition is a clear demonstration and confirmation of his peers’ high regard for his contributions to engineering education.
As a researcher, Dr. Rubaai has made significant contributions to the development and control of electric motor drives for industrial system applications in a variety of roles including scientist, research engineer, university professor, and as IEEE volunteer and leader. Most of these contributions are heavily oriented towards industrial applications that IEEE serves. Of importance is his development of control technologies by way of intelligence; laying the technological foundations for the production versions of high-performance drives used in an expansive array of industrial, commercial, and transportation applications today. His work covers a broad range of manufacturing and product applications and exemplifies his ability to bridge between academic research and the application to industrial applications. The bridges that Dr. Rubaai has built between industry and academia represent a uniquely valuable contribution that can be matched by very few others in the academic world today.